
- . 



LIFE OF 



JOSEPH 



THE 






PROPHET. 



KO 



3^ 



By EDWARD W. TULLIDGE. 





Plano, Illinois: 

PUBLISHED BY THE BOARD OF PUBLICATION" OF THE REORGAN- 
IZED CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS. 

1880. 









Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by 

TULLIDGE & CR AND ALL, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 

Copyright assigned to 

The Board of Publication of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ 

Of Latter Day Saints in 1879. 



PREFACE. 



In' presenting this work to the reading public, it 
has been the aim of the publishers to place within 
the reach of those who cared to know, a more 
correct standard from which to determine the 
character and work of Joseph Smith, the founder, 
under divine direction, of the Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is with the 
consciousness that the work is not so complete nor 
perfect as desirable, owing to the imperfect facil- 
ities for obtaining dates and facts that were at the 
disposal of the publishers, that it is offered; but 
the determination to place in the hands of friends 
of the Church, something from friendly authentic 
sources, has hastened its preparation and publi- 
cation. 

The author, Edward W. Tullidge, :n the preface 
to the edition published by him, states: 

"In the subjoined 'Life of Joseph the Prophet,' 
I have not attempted to give an exhaustive record 
of his acts and sayings. Rather have I attempted 
to present those matters only of wide and general 



IV PREFACE. 



significance — those gems of thought and deed that 
best exhibit the prophet-nature of the man. 

Whenever I have had occasion to incorporate 
any portion of his many and voluminous revela- 
tions, the endeavor has been to set them in their 
proper historical connections and surroundings, as 
only in such a presentation are some of them clear 
to the general reader. 

In its compilation I have been placed under 
obligations to many friends in Utah and elsewhere, 
to whom I hereby express my thanks. 

Its production has been both a work of duty and 
affection. Its kind acceptance by the Saints, and 
fair consideration by the world at large will be my 
ample reward." 

The condensed history of the Reorganization, 
and the Autobiography of Joseph Smith, the 
present President of the Church, together with the 
fact set forth in the following- extract from the 
decision of the Court of Common Pleas of Lake 
county, Ohio, in regard to the right of succession, 
will make it acceptable to the reader. 

" And the Court do further find that the Plain- 
tiff, the P-eorganized Church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter Day Saints, is the True and Lawful contin- 
uation of, and Successor to the said original Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, organized in 
1830, and is entitled to all its rights and property." 

"The Life of Joseph, the Prophet," from chapter 



PREFACE. 



one to chapter forty-seven inclusive, was purchased 
from the Author, and was revised by him for the 
Publishers. The additional chapters, with the 
exception of the Autobiography of -Joseph Smith, 
were written and compiled by the Author, after 
the purchase. 

The publishers ask that a patient reading be 
accorded the work, that the lack long felt may 
be at least partially supplied. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter I. — The Family, and Early Days of the Prophet. Religious Revival 
in the region of Palmyra. Joseph, in doubt, enquires of the Lord. The 
answer. "This is my Beloved Son." He tells his vision, and is perse- 
cuted for having heard the word of the Lord. 

Chapter II. — The Heavens Rest. Joseph left to Mature. His youthful 
Experience. Error and Repentance. He again seeks for a Manifestation 
from God. The Angel Moroni visits him. The wondrous Interview. His 
mission foreshadowed. Shown in vision* where the Sacred Book is hid. 

Chapter III.— Realistic Character of the Visitation. Incidents from Oliver 
Cowdery's narrative of the event. The Angel's visit to Joseph in the field. 
He tells his Father of the Vision and is charged by him to obey the Angel. 

Chapter IV. — The Prophet's first visit to the Hill Cumorah. He attempts to 
take the Records, but is prevented by u^e Angel. Moroni appears to him. 
Great vision of the Powers of Darkness and of Light. The Angel's Charge 
and Instruction. Description of Mount Cumorah. 

Chapter V. — The Mother's Reminiscences of her Prophet Son. Her Graphic 
Description of the Home Circle. Joseph telling the story of the A.icients 
of America. Death of his Brother Alvin. Continuation of Joseph's 
Sketch. 

Chapter VI. — Joseph receives the Plates. The Angel gives him strict charge 
concerning them. Devices of his enemies thwarted. The Plates finally 
returned to Moroni. Removal into Pennsylvania. Martin Harris. His 
Episode with Professor Anthon. Pie Betrays his Trust 

Chapter VIL — Oliver Cowdery. His Introduction to the Family. A Revela- 
tion to him and Joseph. His Historic Importance. A Revelation that 
John the Beloved never tasted Death. John the Baptist appears to Joseph 
and Oliver and confers on them the Aaronic Priesthood. 

Chapter VIII. — Digest of the Book of Mormon. History of Ancient 
America. Origin of the American Indians. Extinction of a Great People. 
How their Records were kept, etc. 



VI 11 CONTENTS. 

Chapter IX. — Rise of the Church. Re-establishment of the Ancient Methods. 
The three Witnesses. Joseph the Architect of the Latter-Day Dispensa- 
tion. Organization of the Church. The first Miracle. Joseph Arrested 
and Tried for Casting Out a Devil. Continuation of his Narrative. 

Chapter X. — An Historical Digression. Parley P. Pratt, Sidney Rigdon and 
Orson Pratt. Brief Sketch of the Pratts. Their Early and Important 
Services to the Church. Parley's Narrative. His Description of Joseph. 
Resumption of Joseph's Narrative. The St. Paul of Mormondom. 

Chapter XI. — The "Lost Books" of Scripture. Joseph as a Translator. 
Conference at Fayette. Important Revelation then given. Kirtland the 
First "Stake" of Zion. Organization of the Mormon Bishopric. Revela- 
tions and Illuminations. Great Vision of Joseph and Sidney. Grand 
Sweep of the Mormon Theology. 

Chapter XII. — The Church in Missouri. Theme of the Gathering. Inaugura- 
tion of the Persecutions. A Marvelous Episode. Terrible Words to Zion. 
The Place of Promise. Judgment at the House of the Lord. Introduction 
oY Brigham Young and others. Current Events. 

Chapter XIII. — Calling of the Twelve Apostles. Their Ordinations and 
Blessings. Charge to Parley, P. Pratt. Charge to the Twelve. Organiza- 
tion of the Seventies. Historical Incidents. 

Chapter XIV. — The Mormon Iliad. The Abrahamic Covenant. Its Infinite 
Scope and Significance. Its Renewal with Joseph and his Israel. 

Chapter XV. — Joseph the Revelator of Christ and Apostle of the Covenants. 
A Witness to tins Generation. Testimony cf the Living to the Living. 
Immortality the All-absorbing Question of Modern Times. Its Affirma- 
tion by Joseph. 

Chapter XVI. — Type and Mission of the Saints. Rearing a Temple to the 
God of Israel. Description of the Temple. The Dedication. Joseph's 
Great Prayer. Administration of Angels. The Voice of Jehovah. Visions 
of Moses, Elias and Elijah. 

Chapter XVII. — The Two Covenants. The Dispensation of Abraham not 
done away in Christ. The Eternal Plan in its Fullness. Mormonism 
Harmonizing the Gospel Themes of the Ages. The Gospel of Christ 
known unto Moses and the Ancients. Its Fulhv . Revealed through 
Joseph. 

Chapter XVIII. — The Priesthood— Joseph's Great Fevelation thereon. Its 
Historical Pertinency. Sending forth the Latter-Day Ministers 

Chapter XIX. — Speculation and Apostacy. " Sc • ling New." Sending 
the Apostles to the Nations. The British Mission Opened. A Significant 
Revelation. Historical Matters. Fall of Far West and Imprisonment of 
the Prophet 



CONTENTS. IX 

Chapter XX. — The "Mormon Wars." The Prisoners continue their March. 
Events in Far West. Arraignment and Preliminary Trial of the Prophet 
and his Brethren. Their Commitment to Liberty Jail. 

Chapter XXI. — The Course cf Events. Proceedings of the Missouri Legis- 
lature. Heroic Effort to Succor the Poor Saints. The Covenant thereto. 
Fulfilling the Revelation Concerning the Apostles. The Exodus into Illi- 
nois. 

Chapter XXII. — Incidents cf the Prophet's Imprisonment. His Epistle to 
the Church. A Personal revelation. Rebuking the Guard. 

Chapter XXIII. — Escape of the Prophet. Whitmar, though in Apostacy, 
Testifies to the Angel and the Plates. Lrighzm's J ..ir.g Joseph 

in. A Day cf God's Tower. The Twelve start for Foreign Lands. 
Abroad under their Peter. 

Chapter. XXIV. — The Messianic Test. It holds Good. The Parallel Exact. 
The Spiritual Struggle en the Threshold of the British Mission. The Door 
of Salvation Opened. Marvelous Achievements of Heber C. Kimball and 
Wilford Woodruff. 

Chapter XXV. — Joseph Carries the Case of his People to Washington. An 
Incident by the Way. His Report Home. Before a Congressic 

mittee. Incidents cf the Return Journey. A Strange Mission. Corres- 
pondence with Mr. Eennett. Death and Funeral Obsequies of Joseph's 
Father. 

Chapter XXVI. — Historical Landmarks. Charter of Nauvoo. The Legion. 
Douglas' Certificate. First City Election. First City Council, etc. A 
Unique Bill. Joseph's Military Commission. General Order No. I. The 
American Mohamet. 

Chapter XXVII. — Book of Abraham. The Hosts of Heaven. Pre-existence. 
Election. Identity cf Michael and Adam. Meaning and Object of the 
Fall. Consistency of the Christ Example. The Messianic Wave. Enoch. 
The Builders of Zion. The Office of Israel. Israel's Fall. The Star of 
Bethlehem moves Westward. 

Chapter. XXVI T America the Alpha and Omega of Civihzation. Joseph of 
the East and Joseph of the West The Everlasting Hills. Birthplace of 
Man. Joseph's Scientific Consistency. The American Bible. Glimpses 
of Primeval History. 

Chapter XXIX. — Tl Ministration of Jesus to Ancient America. " On the 
Morrow come I into the World." Sign of his Crucifixion. He Appears 
unto the Nephites after his Resurrection, and Tarries with them. He 
Chooses Twelve Apostles. The Three Nephites who were never to Taste 
Death. 



X CONTENTS. 

Chapter XXX.— The Bible but a Chapter of the Book of God. The " Good 
Shepherd." Footprints of the Christ. The Innumerable Testaments. 
The Universal Messiah. 

Chapter XXXI. — Israel under the Curse. Driven to his Destiny. His Dis- 
persions and Wanderings. In Great Britain in the 17th Century. Jehovah's 
Monument. The Deliverer. Westward to his Final Blessing. 

Chapter XXXII. — Nations shall Spring from Thee. Kings of People shall 
come of Thee. Israel Proving his Blood. Messiah's Kingdom Rising in 
America. Jehovah's Chariots. The Tumult of his Coming. The Kingdom 
of Heaven is at Hand. 

Chapter XXXIII. — The Whereabouts of the Twelve. Birdseye View of 
their Work in Great Britain. Death of Don Carlos Smith. Orson Hyde 
on the Mount of Olives. Removing the Curse from Israel. 

Chapter XXXIV. — Journalistic Comity. Judge Douglas. Felicitation. 
Joseph's Creed. Marriage Law. An Observer's Opinion. The Female 
Relief Society. General Bennett. Grand Review of the Nauvoo Legion, 

Chapter XXXV. — Treachery and Intrigue. Prophecy of the Mountain Refuge. 
Legal Kidnapping. Hiding from the Enemy. Correspondence. Charac- 
ter Glimpses. " Because I Live they shall Live also." 

Chapter XXXVI. — Appeal to Gov. Carlin. Joseph's Reflections and Diary 
Jottings. He Boldly Returns to Nauvoo. Gov. Carlin shows his Hand. 
Joseph Submits to Arrest. Glimpses of Doctrine and Revelation. Free- 
dom Again. 

Chapter XXXVII. — Rejoicing at the Prophet's Deliverance. A Great 
Sermon. Setting up the Kingdom. The Oracles of Heaven. His Sacri- 
fice again Foretold. 

Chapter XXXVIII. — Joseph Spurns the Politicians. His Prophecy to Judge 
Douglas. Missouri's Persistent Malevolence. Speech at Nauvoo. A 
Dramatic Incident. Again Triumphant. 

Chapter XXXIX. — The Elements of Joseph's Doom. Anti-Mormon Demon- 
strations. Missouri Proposes to Invade Illinois. Gov. Ford Resists. 
Famous Correspondence. Appeals to Congress and his Native State. 

Chapter XL.— The God of the Saints. 

♦ 

Chapter XLT. — The Theme of Zion. Christ bringing Zion from all his Crea* 
tions. Mount, Zion CelestializeaV The One Hundred and Forty-Four 
Thousand Saviors. God Dwelleth in Eternal Burnings. The "Sea of 
Glass." 

Chapter XLII. — Calhoun's Reply to Joseph's Interrogatory. Joseph answers 
him. His own Presidential Manifesto. 



CONTENTS. XI 

Chapter XLIII. — The Civil War Foretold. Rebellion to Begin at South 
Carolina. Protest Against an Exodus to Henry Clay. Joseph's Measures. 

Chapter XLIV. — Affairs at Nauvoo. A Political Convention. The Viper 
Crushed. Arrested Again. At Bay. Nauvoo under Martial Law. Speech 
to the Legion. Alone in G-ethsernane. 

Chapter XLY. — G-ems from Joseph's Last Sermons. Unique Views and 
Character Saying. 

Chapter XLVL — The Escape from Nauvoo. Voluntary Return. "We are 
Going Back to be Slaughtered." The Journey to Carthage. Joseph and 
Hyrum Arrested for Treason. Committed to Jail. Supineness of Gov 
Ford. 

Chapter XLVIL— The Tragedy. Last Words of the Prophet. Finale 

Chapter XLVIII. — The Church after the Martyrdom. Return of the Twelve. 
Conflict for Leadership. Last days of Nauvoo. The Exodus. The "Battle 
of Nauvoo." March of the Mob into the Doomed City. Arrival of the 
Pioneers in the Valley of Salt Lake. Brigham chosen President. The 
Founding and Type of Utah. Proclamation of Polygamy, Incidents of 
Utah History. 

Chapter XLIX. — Elders Moved upon by the Holy Ghost to Restore the 
Church. The Spirit of the Lord Proclaims "Young Joseph" as his Father's 
Successor. Historical Sketch of the Rise of the Reorganized Church. The 
Amboy Conference. 

Chapter L. — Brigham's Early Opinion of Young Joseph's Claims. Joseph to 
Come to Him. Church Rejected. Counter Rejection by 0. Hyde. His 
Testimony of B. Young's call to Presidency. The Author's Testimony. 
Elder Woodruff's Journal. Orson Pratt's Statement. Brigham Chosen by 
a Council at Winter Quarters. 0. Hyde's statement found Untrue. Wood- 
ruff's opposition to Brigham's ambition. Vindication of the Historian. 

Chapter LI. — The Work of the Ministry. News from England. Spread of the 
Work. Choosing of Other Twelve. First Mission to England. First 
Epistle General of the Twelve. Appendix. Baptism of David H. Smith. 
Letter from John E. Page. Union of the Cutlerites. The Gathering. 
Declaration of Loyalty. Mission to Utah. Progress in England. Canada. 
First Conference in California. Prosperity. New Translation. 

Chapter LII. — The Utah "Schism." Mr. Godbe and his Compeers. A Mor- 
mon Reformation in the name of Joseph. The Rebels before the School of 
the Prophets. Their Trial before the High Council. The "New Move- 
ment" begun. Its Mormon Mission Destroyed by Spiritualism. 



Xll CONTENTS. 

Chapter LIII.— Mission in California. Congress Memorialized. The New 
Movement in Utah. Church of Zion. The Coming Man. Death of 
William Marks. Elder Forscutt Appointed to England. New Revelation 
on Organization. Challenge to Elders 0. Pratt and D. H. Wells. The 
Messenger. Death of C. W. Wandell in Australia. J. Smith in Utah. 
Wm. Smith Unites with the Church. Death of Emma. 

Chapter LIV. — Biography of Joseph Smith. Early Incidents. Removal from 
Nauvoo and Return. Leadings to his Life Work. Conflict upon Duty. 
How it was Determined. Uniting with the Reorganization. Result. 

Chapter LV. — The "One Mighty and Strong." The Revelation given at the 
Birth of ll Young Joseph.' 1 A Lineal Priesthood. Joseph and his "seed." 
The One Sent to Restore Latter-day Israel. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE FAMILY, AND EARLY DAYS, OF THE PROPHET 

RELIGIOUS REVIVAL IN THE REGION OF PALMY- 
RA JOSEPH, IN DOUBT, ENQUIRES OF THE LORD 

THE ANSWER " THIS IS MY BELOVED SON " 

HE TELLS HIS VISION, AND IS PERSECUTED FOR 
HAVING HEARD THE WORD OF THE LORD. 

" I was born," says the Prophet Joseph, "in the 
year of our Lord 1805, on the 23d of December, in 
the town of Sharon, Windsor Co., Vt. 

" My father, Joseph Smith, Sen., left the State of 
Vermont and moved to Palmyra, Ontario Co. (now 
Wayne Co.), N. Y., when I was in my tenth year. 
About four years afterward he moved, with his 
family, into Manchester, in the same county. 

"Some time in the second year after our removal 
to Manchester, there was in that place an unusual 
excitement on the subject of religion. It com- 
menced with the Methodists, but soon became 
general among all the sects in that region of country; 
indeed, the whole district seemed affected by it, and 
great numbers united themselves to the different 
religious parties, which created no small stir and 
division among the people; some crying 'Lo, here!' 
and some ' Lo, there!' * * * A scene of bad 
feeling ensued ; priest against priest ; convert against 



2 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

convert ; so that all of the good feeling entertained, 
one for another, was entirely lost in a strife of words 
and a contest of opinions. 

"I was at this time in my fifteenth year. My 
father's family was proselyted to the Presbyterian 
faith, four members of it joining that church ; 
namely, my mother, my brothers Hyrum and 
Samuel H., and my sister Sophronia. 

"During this time of great excitement my mind 
was called up to serious reflection and great uneasi- 
ness ; but although my feelings were deep, and often 
pungent, still I kept myself aloof from all those 
parties, though I attended their several meetings as 
often as occasion would permit. But in time my 
mind became somewhat partial to the Methodist 
sect, and I felt some desire to unite with them ; but 
so great was the confusion and strife among the 
different denominations that it was impossible for a 
person, young as I was, and so unacquainted with 
men and things, to come to any certain conclusion 
in the matter. * * * * 

" While I was laboring under the extreme difficul- 
ties caused by the contests of these parties of relig- 
ionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, 
first chapter and fifth verse, which reads, ' If any of 
you lack wisdom let him ask of God, that giveth 
unto all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall 
be given him.' Never did any passage of Scripture 
come with more power to the heart of man than did 
this to mine. It seemed to enter with great force 
into every feeling of my heart. * * * I at length 
came to the determination to 'ask of God,' conclud- 
ing that if he gave to them who lacked wisdom, and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 3 

would not upbraid, I might venture. Accordingly 
I retired to the woods to make the attempt. 

" It was on the morning of a beautiful clear day. 
early in the Spring of 1820. It was the first time 
in my life that I had made such an attempt, for 
amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the 
attempt to pray vocally. 

•■ After I had retired into the place where I had 
previously designed to go, having looked around me 
and finding- mvself alone, I knelt down and began 
to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had 
scarcely done so. when immediately I was seized by 
some power which entirely overcame me, and had 
such astonishing influence over me as to bind my 
tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness 
gathered around me, and it seemed for a time as if 
I was doomed to sudden destruction. But exerting 
all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of 
the power of this enemy which had seized me ; and 
at the verv moment when I was readv to sink into 
despair and abandon myself to destruction — not to 
an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual 
being from the unseen world — just at this moment 
of great alarm I saw a pillar of light exactly over 
my head, above the brightness of the sun, which 
gradually descended until it fell upon me. It no 
sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from 
the enemv which held me bound. When the light 
rested upon me, I saw two personages, whose bright- 
ness and glory defy all description, standing above 
me in the air. One of them spake to me, calling 
me by name, and said, pointing to the other, ' This 
is my beloved son ; hear him ! ' 



4 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" My object in going to enquire of the Lord was 
to know which of all these sects was right, that I 
might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, 
did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to 
speak, than I asked the personages who stood above 
me in the light, which of all the sects was right — 
for at that time it had never entered into my heart 
that all were wrong — and which I should join. I 
was answered that I should join none of them, for 
they were all wrong; and the personage who ad- 
dressed me said that all their creeds were an abom- 
ination in his sight ; that those professors were all 
corrupt, ' They draw near me with their lips, but 
their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrine 
the commandments of men, having a form of godli- 
ness, but they deny the power thereof.' He again 
forbade me to join any of them. * * * When I 
came to myself again, I found myself lying on my 
back, looking up into heaven. 

" Some few days after I had this vision, I hap- 
pened to be in company with one of the Metho- 
dist preachers who was very active in the before- 
mentioned religious excitement, and conversing with 
him upon the subject of religion, I took occasion to 
give him an account of the vision which I had had. 
I was greatly surprised at his behavior; he treated 
my communication not only lightly, but with great 
contempt, saying it was all of the devil ; that there 
were no such things as visions or revelations in 
these days ; that all such things had ceased with 
the Apostles, and that there never would be any- 
more of them. I soon found, however, that my 
telling the story had excited a great deal of preju- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 5 

dice against me among professors of religion, and 
was the cause of great persecution, which continued 
to increase ; and though I was an obscure boy, only 
between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and my 
circumstances in life such as to make a boy of no 
consequence in the world, yet men of high standing 
would take notice sufficient to excite the public 
mind against me and create a hot persecution ; and 
this was common among all the sects — all united to 
persecute me." 

What that Methodist preacher then said to 
Joseph, churches still say: "It is all of the devil." 
" There are no visions or revelations in these days ; 
all such things ceased with the Apostles ; there 
never will be any more of such." And this in the 
very face of revelation sweeping over the bosom of 
the age like a mighty ocean ! Notwithstanding that 
since 1820, perhaps twenty-five million souls, outside 
of churches, and the majority of them from the in- 
tellectual classes, have accepted a dispensation of 
revelation in some form, churches stand do-day 
where they stood then. All Christendom, still re- 
maining without a present revelation of Jesus, yet 
this Jesus the supreme revelator of his Fathers 
kingdom! 



CHAPTER II. 

THE HEAVENS REST JOSEPH LEFT TO MATURE HIS 

YOUTHFUL EXPERIENCE ERROR AND REPENT- 
ANCE HE AGAIN SEEKS FOR A MANIFESTATION 

FROM GOD THE ANGEL MORONI VISITS HIM 

THE WONDROUS INTERVIEW HIS MISSION FORE- 
SHADOWED SHOWN IN VISION WHERE THE 

SACRED BOOK IS HID. 

The great work of opening the dispensation thus 
accomplished by the august administration of the 
Father and Son, the heavens rested for a season. 
There was divine wisdom in this. Joseph was too 
young at that time to be sent forth with the won- 
drous proclamation to all nations, kindreds and 
tongues, that God had called him to be the prophet 
of a new civilization; too young, at fourteen, to seek 
out from the multitude strong apostolic men, saying 
unto them, " Leave your nets and follow me." 

" My mind had now become satisfied," says 
Joseph, "so far as the sectarian world was con- 
cerned, that it was not my duty to join with any of 
them, but to continue as I was until further directed. 
I had found the testimony of James to be true, that 
a man who lacked wisdom might ask of God, and 
obtain, and not be upbraided. I continued to pur- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. J 

sue my common avocations in life until the 21st of 
Sept. 1823, all the time suffering persecution at the 
hands of all classes of men, both religious and 
irreligious, because I continued to affirm that I had 
seen a vision." 

Philosophically reviewing this period of Joseph's 
life, the divine wisdom is easily discerned. His 
mind had received an extraordinary spiritual birth, 
and it was now necessary that his character should 
mature to prepare him for his great work. Per- 
chance had the administration of angels been con- 
stant, and daily with him, from the age of fourteen, 
it would have unbalanced his mind, and stunted the 
physical majesty with which nature so liberally en- 
dowed him. 

Thus may be seen a scientific reason underscoring 
the divine purpose. The method is at once pro- 
found and simple. The grand overture of the 
" Dispensation of the Fullness of Times" was given; 
presently will be seen the second divine movement 
It is the revelation of the " New and Everlasting 
Covenant " which Jesus and his Father came to 
make with Earth. 

Meantime Joseph fell into some improprieties of 
youth ; which fact Anti-Mormon writers have dwelt 
upon with great relish. But let us hear his own 
confession : 

" During the time which intervened between the 
vision and the year 1823 (having been forbidden to 
join any of the religious sects of the day, and being 
of very tender years, and persecuted by those who 
ought to have treated me kindly, and, if they sup- 
posed me to be deluded, ought to have endeavored 



8 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

in a proper and affectionate manner to have re- 
claimed me), I was left to all kinds of temptations, 
and mingled with all kinds of society. I frequently- 
fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the 
weakness of youth and the corruption of human 
nature, which,. I am sorry to say, led me into divers 
temptations to gratify appetites offensive in the 
sight of God. In consequence of these things I 
often felt condemned for my weakness and imper 
fections." 

An ingenuous and touching confession ; quite 
gratuitous ; a recompense to his own conscience, — 
not an answer or apology before an earthly tribunal; 
for he swept away all human judgments that con- 
flicted with his sense of right, and knelt only at the 
judgment seat of the Great Jehovah. 

Singularly, yet naturally enough, this very expe- 
rience of being left, for a time, in his youth, without 
the visible hand of his divine guide, was the provi- 
dential way that led him to his extraordinary 
mission; for just here occurred his second grand 
vision. He says: 

''On the evening of the above-mentioned 21st of 
Sept., after I had retired to my bed for the night, I 
betook myself to prayer and supplication to Al- 
mighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, 
and also for a manifestation to me, that I might 
know of my state and standing before him ; for I 
had full confidence in obtaining a divine manifesta- 
tion, as I had previously had one. 

" While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, 
I discovered a light appearing in the room, which 
continued to increase until the room was lighter 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 9 

than at noonday, when immediately a personage 
appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his 
feet did not touch the floor. He had on a loose 
robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a white- 
ness beyond anyth'ing earthly I had ever seen ; nor 
do I believe that any earthly thing could be made 
to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant ; his 
hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above 
the wrists ; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his 
legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck 
were also bare. I could discover that he had no 
other clothing on but this robe, as it was open so 
that I could see into his bosom. Not only was his 
robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was 
glorious beyond description, and his countenance 
truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly 
light, but not so very bright as immediately around 
his person. When I first looked upon him I was 
afraid, but the fear soon left me. He called me by 
name and said unto me, that he was a messenger 
sent from the presence of God, and that his name 
was Moroni. That God had a work for me to do, 
and that my name should be had for good and evil 
among all nations, kindreds, and tongues ; or that it 
should be both good and evil spoken of among all 
people. He said there was a book deposited, writ- 
ten upon gold plates, giving an account of the 
former inhabitants of this continent, and the source 
from whence they sprung. He also said that the 
fullness of the everlasting gospel was contained in 
it, as delivered by the Saviour to the ancient inhab- 
itants. Also, that there were two stones in silver 
bows (and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, 



IO LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

constituted what is called the Urim and Thummini) 
deposited with the plates, and the possession and 
use of these stones was what constituted seers in 
ancient or former times, and that God had prepared 
them for the purpose of translating the book. * * 
He told me that when I got those plates of which 
he had spoken (for the time that they should be 
obtained was not yet fulfilled) I should not show 
them to any person, neither the breastplate with the 
Urim and Thummini, only to those to whom I 
should be commanded to show them ; if I did, I 
should be destroyed. While he was conversing with 
me about the plates, the vision was opened to my 
mind that I could see the place where the plates 
were deposited, and that so clearly and distinctly, 
that I knew the place again when I visited it. 

" After this communication, I saw the light in the 
room begin to gather immediately around the per- 
son of him who had been speaking to me, and it 
continued to do so, until the room was again left 
dark, except just around him, when instantly I saw, 
as it were, a conduit open right up into heaven, and 
he ascended up till he entirely disappeared, and the 
room was left as it had been before this heavenly 
light had made its appearance. 

11 I lay musing on the singularity of the scene, 
and marveling greatly at what had been told me by 
this extraordinary messenger, when, in the midst of 
my meditation, I suddenly discovered that my room 
was again beginning to be lighted, and in an instant, 
as it were, the same heavenly messenger was again 
by my bedside. He commenced, and again related 
the very same things which he had done at his first 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. II 

visit, without the least variation, which having done, 
he informed me of great judgments which were 
coming upon the earth, with great desolations by 
famine, sword, and pestilence, and that these griev- 
ous judgments would come on the earth in this 
generation. Having related these things, he again 
ascended as he had done before. 

" By this time, so deep were the impressions made 
on my mind, that sleep had fled from my eyes, and 
I lay overwhelmed in astonishment at what I had 
both seen and heard ; but what was my surprise 
when again I beheld the same messenger at my 
bedside, and heard him rehearse or repeat over 
again to me the same things as before, and added a 
caution to me, telling me that Satan would try to 
tempt me (in consequence of the indigent circum- 
stances of my father's family) to get the plates for 
the purpose of getting rich. This he forbid me, 
saying, that I must have no other object in view in 
getting the plates but to glorify God, and must not 
be influenced by any other motive but that of build- 
ing his kingdom, otherwise I could not get them. 
After this third visit, he again ascended into heaven 
as before, and I was again left to ponder on the 
strangeness of what I had just experienced, when 
almost immediately after the heavenly messenger 
had ascended from me the third time, the cock crew, 
and I found that day was approaching, so that our 
interviews must have occupied the whole of that 
night." 



CHAPTER III. 

REALISTIC CHARACTER OF THE VISITATION INCI- 
DENTS FROM OLIVER COWDERY's NARRATIVE OF 

THE EVENT THE ANGELS VISIT TO JOSEPH, IN 

THE FIELD HE TELLS HIS FATHER OF THE 

VISION, AND IS CHARGED BY HIM TO OBEY THE 
ANGEL. 

All night had the angel been with Joseph. 'Till 
the dawn of morn had he tarried. Thrice had he 
descended and thrice ascended, with all the circum- 
stances of reality in his appearing. 

Nor let it be thought that the physical is the only 
real, and that the spiritual and immortal are unreal. 
A wrong classification this of the ideas of the two 
moods of existence, as well as an inadequate and 
improper wording. The spiritual and immortal are 
the very adamant of being. Indeed, the demon- 
stration of immortality is in the fact that it is the 
real, and not the unreal, of existence. It is the 
physical that, through dissolution, passes away, and 
in that passing away Nature is confounded, for a 
moment, in the midnight of death, — the midnight 
of existence, in fact, for the moment thereafter is the 
dawn of the everlasting. There cannot be any- 
thing more certain than the fact that the intellec- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 3 

tual world has either to give up all affirmation of 
the spiritual, or else treat it as the very essence of 
reality. 

Now it is this realistic character of Joseph Smith's 
visions and experiences that makes him to be such 
a valuable problem for the age. He is of more 
value to the scientist than to the mere visionary 
disciple ; and he may yet become a very solid subject 
of study for the skeptical intellect. 

It is not now as in 1823; not now as in the life- 
time of this extraordinary man. To-day a new- 
found spiritual sense is awaking in all society, 
insomuch that those who possess it most, if also 
endowed with intellectual acumen, fear greatly that 
the world is becoming spiritually insane. 

Positively refreshing and restful, to intellect, is it 
to find a prophet so sound, so strong, so large in 
mind and robust in physique as Joseph Smith. 
There is no more insanity in him than in the giant 
oak of the forest. He dwelt in the very glare and 
illumination of a spiritual existence, and yet was the 
founder, organizer, and leader of a Latter-day Israel. 
It is this which makes him so rare a study. Not 
better was Moses, — he who, in the solidity of his 
physical and mental strength, turned aside to inves- 
tigate the burning bush, and then conversed with 
Jehovah, in an extraordinary business-like way, 
about the deliverance of Israel. Not more real was 
Jacob's angel, with whom he wrestled all night, than 
were the angels of our times to Joseph. 

# And mark how circumstantial was the business of 
the angel with Joseph. Oliver Cowdery, who was 
his scribe in translating the Book of Mormon, tells 



14 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

us that the angel, on the above-mentioned occasion, 
gave a general history of the Ancients of the Amer- 
ican Continent. In fact his narrative was a sketch 
of the Book of Mormon, with oracular interspersions 
and personal charges to Joseph ; so that during the 
interviews of that night he was made well acquaint- 
ed with the Lord's business, in its opening views 
and purposes. 

An incident, worthy of note, in the interesting 
narrative, is that of the angel showing Joseph in 
vision the place where the plates were deposited. 
It illustrates the seeric scope, and one phase of the 
seeric gift. 

But perhaps the greatest marvel of that night's 
experience was the angel's deliberate ascensions and 
repeated returns to rehearse his subject, giving, by 
the intervals of Joseph's personal self-possession, an 
absolute sense of the reality of the whole. There is 
such a realistic character about this that it is made 
to be one of the chief features of that remarkable 
night. It is, moreover, quite ancient in its method 
and style. Those familiar with Homer will remem- 
ber how exact were the messengers from the skies- 
in rehearsing their messages from the Gods. 
Joseph, however, simply records the returns and 
repetitions of the angel as an incident that aston- 
ished him, and is seemingly not at all conscious of 
the antique forms of the visit. The personage was 
decidedly an ancient. 

And the angel gathered the mantle of his glory 
around him. The description which Joseph giv*es 
of this phenomenon is as beautifully suggestive for 
the idealist as exact for the scientist : " I saw the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 15 

light in the room begin to gather immediately 
around the person of him who had been speaking 
to me," etc. 

Then crew the cock as the angel ascended the 
third time, and the morning dawned. Truly a 
poetic fitness this to the dawn of the great spiritual 
day of Messiah's coming. 

And as the narrative continues the realistic in- 
creases. Says Joseph: 

" I shortly after arose from my bed, and, as usual, 
went to the necessary labors of the day, but, on 
attempting to labor as at other times, I found my 
strength so exhausted as to render me entirely 
unable. My father, who was laboring along with 
me, discovered something to be wrong with me, and 
told me to go home. I started, with the intention 
of going to the house, but, in attempting to cross 
the fence out of the field where we were, my strength 
entirely failed me, and I fell helpless on the ground, 
and for a time was quite unconscious of anything. 
The first thing that I can recollect, was a voice 
speaking unto me, calling me byname; I looked up 
and beheld the same messenger standing over my 
head, surrounded by light as before. He then again 
related all that he had related unto me the previous 
night, and commanded me to go to my father, and 
tell him of the vision and commandments which I 
had received. I obeyed. I returned to my father 
in the field and rehearsed the whole matter to him. 
He replied to me that it was of God, and bade me 
go and do as commanded by the messenger." 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE PROPHET'S FIRST VISIT TO THE HILL CUMORAH 

HE ATTEMPTS TO TAKE THE RECORDS, BUT IS 

PREVENTED BY THE ANGEL MORONI APPEARS 

TO HIM GREAT VISION OF THE POWERS OF DARK- 
NESS AND OF LIGHT THE ANGEL'S CHARGE AND 

INSTRUCTION DESCRIPTION OF MOUNT CUMORAH. 

The first visit of the youthful prophet to the hill 
Cumorah, where the angels of the Western Hemis- 
phere guarded the records of their ancient nations, 
was a circumstance that well might awe the imagi- 
nation of the reader. To Joseph, with his quick- 
ened spiritual sense, it was an actual visit to the 
solemn domain of the mighty dead, who, whether 
visible or invisible, he knew would meet him there. 

Having been charged by his father to obey the 
heavenly messenger, Joseph left the field and 
wended his way to the hill Cumorah, where the 
angel awaited him. During his walk of from two 
to three miles, — the distance from his fathers house 
to this spot around which such a volume of ancient 
history clusters, — it seemed, to use Joseph's own 
words, as though two invisible powers were striving 
to obtain the controlling influence over him. 

The hour of temptation had come ! 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. I J 

The one power sought to allure his mind with 
worldly ambitions and prospect of gain, through 
possession of the golden plates upon which was 
written the history of the ancient races of America; 
for very naturally he thought that the world would 
be astonished at the coming to light of so ^reat a 
treasure, and by his instrumentality. The other 
power strove to bring his youthful mind to the 
integrity and comprehension of the mission opening 
before him, and to a realization that the sacred 
book could only be obtained for the glory of God 
and the special purposes of which the angel had 
spoken. 

Thus contended the invisible powers, and such 
the conflicting state of Joseph's mind as he wended 
his way to the sacred hill. 

Arriving at the spot where the records had been 
buried, ages before, by Moroni, he recognized it at 
the instant, " owing," he says, " to the distinctness of 
the vision which I had concerning it." 

"On the west side of this hill Cumorah," he con- 
tinues, " not far from the top, under a stone of 
considerable size, lay the plates, deposited in a stone 
box; this stone was thick and rounding in the mid- 
dle on the upper side, and thinner towards the 
edges, so that the middle part of it was visible 
above the oround, but the ed^e all round was cov- 
ered with earth. Havino- removed the earth and 
obtained a lever, which I fixed under the edge of 
the stone, with a little exertion I raised it up. I 
looked in, and there indeed did I behold the plates, 
the Urim and TJuimmim, and the breastplate, as 
stated by the messenger. The box in which they 

2 



1 8 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

lay was formed by laying stones together in some 
kind of cement. In the bottom of the box were 
laid two stones crossways, and on these stones lay 
the plates and the other things with them." 

The famous letters of Oliver Cowdery, on the 
rise of the church, give the most graphic and cir- 
cumstantial account of Joseph's first visit to the hill 
Cumorah. From the point above given Mr. Cow- 
dery says : 

" On attempting to take possession of the record, 
a shock was produced upon his system, by an invis- 
ible power, which deprived him, in a measure, of his 
natural strength. He desisted, for an instant, and 
then made another attempt, but was more sensibly 
shocked than before. He made a third attempt, 
with increased exertion, when his strength failed 
him more than at either of the former times, and 
without premeditation he exclaimed, ' Why can I 
not obtain this book?' 'Because you have not 
kept the commandments of the Lord,' answered a 
voice, within a seeming short distance. He looked, 
and to his astonishment, there stood the angel who 
had previously given him the directions concerning 
this matter. * * * I * At that instant he looked 
to the Lord in prayer, and as he prayed darkness 
began to disperse from his mind, and his soul was 
lit up as it was the evening before, and he was filled 
with the Holy Spirit; and again did the Lord man- 
ifest his condescension and mercy : the heavens 
were opened, and the glory of the Lord shone 
roundabout and rested upon him. While he thus 
stood gazing and admiring, the angel said, ' Look !' 
and as he. thus spoke he beheld the Prince of Dark- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 9 

ness, surrounded by his innumerable train of asso- 
ciates. As this passed before him the heavenly 
messenger said,' All this is shown, the good and the 
evil, the holy and the impure, the glory of God and 
the power of darkness, that you may know here- 
after the two powers and never be influenced or 
overcome by that wicked one. * * * You now 
see why you could not obtain this record ; that the 
commandment was strict, and that if ever these 
sacred things are obtained, they must be by prayer 
and faithfulness in obeying the Lord. They are not 
deposited here for the sake of accumulating gain 
and wealth for the glory of this world : they were 
sealed by the prayer of faith, and because of the 
knowledge which they contain th^y ere of no worth 
among the children of men, only for their knowl- 
edge. On them is contained the fullness of the 
gospel of Jesus Christ, as it was given to his people 
on this land. * * * They cannot be interpreted 
by the learning of this generation ; consequently 
they would be considered of no worth, except as 
precious metal. Therefore, remember, they are to be 
translated by the gift and power of God. By them 
will the Lord work a great and a marvelous work. 
* * * If you are faithful, and shall hereafter 
continue to keep the commandments of the Lord, 
you shall be preserved to bring these things forth; 
for in due time he will again give you a command 
to come and take them."' 

Mount Cumorah, the scene of the above occur- 
rence, is thus described by Mr. Cowdery : 

" As you pass on the mail-road from Palmyra, 
Wayne Co., to Canandaigua, Ontario Co., N. Y., 



20 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

before arriving at the little village of Manchester, 
say from three to four miles from Palmyra, you pass 
a large hill on the east side of the road. Why I 
say large is because it is as large, perhaps, as any in 
that country. The north end rises quite suddenly 
until it assumes a level with the more southerly ex- 
tremity, and I think I may say an elevation higher 
than at the south a short distance, say half or three- 
fourths of a mile. As you pass towards Canan- 
daigua it lessens gradually until the surface assumes 
its common level, or is broken by other smaller hills 
or ridges, water courses and ravines. I think I am 
justified in saying that this is the highest hill for 
some distance round, and I am certain that its ap- 
pearance, as it rises so suddenly from a plain on the 
north, must attract the notice of the traveler as he 
passes by. 

" At about one mile westward rises another ridge 
of less height, running parallel with the former, 
leaving a beautiful vale between. The soil is of the 
first quality for the country, and under a state of 
cultivation which gives a prospect at once imposing, 
when one reflects on the fact, that here between 
these hills, the entire power and national strength 
of both the Jaredites and Nephites perished. 

" This hill, by the Jaredites was called Ramah ; 
by the Nephites, Cumorah. Around it pitched the 
famous army of Coriantumr their tents. Corian- 
tumr was the last king of the Jaredites. The 
opposing army was in the west ; and in this same 
valley and near by, from day to day, did that 
mighty race spill their blood, in wrath contending, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 21 

as it were, brother against brother, and father against 
son. In this same spot, in full view from the top of 
this same hill, one may £aze with astonishment 
upon the ground which was twice covered with the 
dead and dying. Here may be seen where once 
sunk to naught the pride and strength of two 
miofhtv nations. 

" The hill Cumorah, at the time of my visit pre- 
sented a varied appearance. The north end rose 
suddenly from the plain, forming a promontory 
without timber, but covered with grass. As you 
pass to the south you soon come to scattered tim- 
ber, the surface having been cleared by art or by 
wind ; and at a short distance farther to the left, 
you are surrounded by the common forest of the 
country. It is necessary to observe that even the 
part cleared was only occupied by pasturage, its 
steep ascent and narrow summit not admitting the 
plow of the husbandman with any degree of ease 
or profit. It was the second mentioned place where 
the record was found deposited, on the west side of 
the hill, not far from the top down its side ; and 
when I visited the place in 1S30, there were several 
trees standing: enough to cause a shade in Sum- 
mer, but not so much as to prevent the surface 
being covered with grass — which was also the case 
when the record was found. * * * How far 
below the surface these records were placed by 
Moroni I am unable to say; but from the fact that 
they had been some fourteen hundred years buried, 
and that too on the side of a hill so steep, one is 
ready to conclude that they were some feet below, 



22 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

as the earth would naturally wear more or less in 
that time ; but being placed toward the top of the 
hill, the ground would not remove as much as at 
two-thirds perhaps. * * * The manner in which 
the plates were deposited: first a hole of sufficient 
depth was dug ; at the bottom of this was laid a 
stone of sufficient size, the upper surface being 
smooth. At each edge was placed a large quantity 
of cement, and into this cement, at the four edges 
of the stone, were placed erect four others ; their 
bottom edges resting in the cement at the outer 
edges of the first stone. The four last named when 
placed erect, formed a box; the corners, or where 
the edges came in contact, were also cemented so 
firmly that the moisture from without was prevented 
from entering. It is to be observed, also, that the 
inner surface of the four erect, or side, stones were 
smooth. This box was sufficiently large to admit a 
breastplate such as was used by the ancients. From 
the bottom of the box, or from the breastplate, arose 
three small pillars of the cement, and upon these 
three pillars were placed the records. This box was 
covered with another stone, the bottom surface 
being flat and the upper crowning. * * * * 
Whatever may be the feelings of men on the reflec- 
tion of past acts, which have been performed on 
certain portions or spots of the earth, I know not: 
neither does it add to nor diminish from the reality 
of my subject. When Moses heard the voice of 
God, at the foot of Mount Horeb, out of the burn- 
ing bush, he was commanded to take his shoes off 
his feet, for the ground on which he stood was holy. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 23 

The same may be observed when Joshua beheld 
the Captain of the Lord's Host, by Jericho ; and I 
confess that my mind was filled with many reflec- 
tions ; and though I did not then loose my shoes, 
yet with gratitude to God did I offer up the sacri- 
fice of my heart." 



CHAPTER V, 

THE MOTHER'S REMINISCENCES OF HER PROPHET SON 
HER GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE HOME- 
CIRCLE JOSEPH TELLING THE STORY OF THE 

ANCIENTS OF AMERICA DEATH OF HIS BROTHER 

ALVIN CONTINUATION OF JOSEPH'S SKETCH. 

Mother Lucy Smith's reminiscences of her prophet 
son in those early days have at once a familiar charm 
and an exquisite touch of the earnest simplicity and 
faith in which the Smith family received the angelic 
visitation. Of the occurrences immediately suc- 
ceeding Joseph's first visit to the hill Cumorah, she 
says : 

" The ensuing evening, when the family were all 
together, Joseph made known to them all that he 
had communicated to his father in the field, and also 
of his finding the record, as well as what passed 
between him and the angel while he was at the 
place where the plates were deposited. Sitting up 
late that evening, in order to converse upon these 
things, together with over-exertion of mind, had 
much fatigued Joseph; and when Alvin observed it, 
he said, ' Now, brother, let us go to bed, and rise 
early in the morning, in order to finish our day's 
work at an early hour before sunset; then, if mother 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 25 

will get our suppers ready early, we will have a fine 
long evening, and we will all sit down for the pur- 
pose of listening to you while you tell us the great 
things which God has revealed to you.' 

"Accordingly, by sunset the next day we were all 
seated, and Joseph commenced telling us the great 
and glorious things which God had manifested to 
him ; but before proceeding, he charged us not to 
mention out of the family that which he was about 
to say to us, as the world was so wicked that when 
they came to a knowledge of these things they 
would try to take our lives ; and that when we 
should obtain the plates, our names would be cast 
out as evil by all people. Hence the necessity of 
suppressing these things as much as possible, until 
the time should come for them to go forth to the 
world. 

" After giving us this charge, he proceeded to re- 
late further particulars concerning the work which 
he was appointed to do. and we received them joy- 
fully, never mentioning them except among our- 
selves, agreeable to the instructions which we had 
received from him. 

"From this time Joseph continued to receive 
instructions from the Lord, and we continued to get 
the children together every evening, for the purpose 
of listening while he gave us a relation of the same. 
I presume our family presented an aspect as singu- 
lar as any that ever lived upon the face of the earth 
— all seated in a circle, — father, mother, sons and 
daughters, and giving the most profound attention 
to a boy, eighteen years of age, who had never read 
the Bible through in his life : he seemed much less 



26 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

inclined to the perusal of books than any of the rest 
of our children, but far more given to meditation 
and deep study. 

" We were now confirmed in the opinion that 
God was about to bring to light something upon 
which we could stay our minds, or that would 
give us a more perfect knowledge of the plan of 
salvation." * * * 

She also tells a touching story of the death of 
Alvin, which is appropriately incorporated here, in 
that it contains Alvin's dying charge to Joseph: 

" On the 15 th of Nov., 1824, Alvin was taken very 
sick with bilious colic. His father went immedi- 
ately for a physician who, when he arrived, admin- 
istered a dose of calomel, which lodged in the 
stomach, and baffled the skill of four other physi- 
cians, who were subsequently called. After some 
exertion on their part to carry the calomel off, Alvin 
told them that it was still lodged in the same place, 
and that it must take his life. On coming to this 
conclusion he called for all of the children and gave 
them his parting exhortation. * * When he 
came to Joseph, he said, ' I am now going to die. 
* * I want you to do everything in your power 
to obtain the record. Be faithful in receiving in- 
struction, and in keeping every commandment that 
is given you. * * And always be kind to father 
and mother.' " 

Alvin shortly after died. " A vast concourse of 
people," continues his mother, " attended his obse- 
quies, who seemed very anxious to show their sym- 
pathy for us in our bereavement." 

The following, also told by his mother, shows 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 2*J 

how strictly Joseph obeyed the injunction to join 
neither of the sects, and how his mind was illumined 
concerning the Scriptures : 

" Shortly after the death of Alvin, a man com- 
menced laboring in the neighborhood, to effect a 
union of the different churches, in order that all 
might be agreed, and thus worship God with one 
heart and one mind. 

" This seemed about right to me, and I felt much 
inclined to join in with them ; in fact, the most of 
the family appeared quite disposed to unite- with 
their numbers ; but Joseph, from the first, utterly 
refused even to* attend their meetings, saying, 
1 Mother, I do not wish to prevent your going to 
meeting, or any of the rest of the family, or your 
joining any church you please ; but, do not ask me 
to join them. I can take my Bible, and go into the 
woods, and learn more in two hours, than you can 
learn at meeting in two years, if you should go all 
of the time.' " 

With these reminiscences may properly be incor- 
porated Joseph's own brief sketch of his life from 
this point up to the obtaining of the plates in 1827; 
after which opens the regular historic period of the 
Latter-day Work. 

"Accordingly as I had been commanded," says 
Joseph, " I went at the end of each year, [to the hill 
Cumorah] and at each time I found the same mes- 
senger there, and received instruction and intelli- 
gence from him at each of our interviews respecting 
what the Lord was going to do, and how and in 
what manner his kingdom was to be conducted in 
the last days." 



28 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

At these conferences between Joseph and the 
angel was outlined the grand design of the immor- 
tals concerning the Latter-day Kingdom of God; 
and there has been so much correspondence be- 
tween the after facts and those original designs that 
even the skeptical investigator must be struck 
thereby. Show to us an intricate and wonderful 
piece of mechanism, and we scarcely need the in- 
ventor's testimony that he and his genius — he and 
the angel of his invention — have had many a night- 
vigil at their work. So do fifty-seven years of con- 
nected facts sufficiently testify that Joseph and 
Moroni have made a very circumstantial record in 
modern times. 

Not in all the spiritual history of the race is there 
anything more dramatically striking than these 
yearly visits of Joseph to Moroni. Picture these 
two on Mount Cumorah; remember it was the hour 
of earth's spiritual midnight, and only one angel on 
the watch. Then compare that awful but auspicious 
moment with the present, — when hosts of angels of 
some class or other are up and doing in every land. 
And how strikingly parallel to that watch which the 
wise men and angels kept in the East, on the night 
when the star of Messiah appeared, was that watch 
which was kept by Joseph and the angel, when first 
shot athwart the midnight of the age the star of the 
latter-days. 



CHAPTER VI. 

JOSEPH RECEIVES THE PLATES THE ANGEL GIVES 

HIM STRICT CHARGE CONCERNING THEM DE- 
VICES OF HIS ENEMIES THWARTED— THE PLATES 

FINALLY RETURNED TO MORONI REMOVAL INTO 

PENNSYLVANIA MARTIN HARRIS HIS EPISODE 

WITH PROF. ANTHON HE BETRAYS HIS TRUST. 

The four years of probation were ended. During 
this period Joseph had been Moroni's pupil. The 
sustained intercourse with the angel had made him 
a prophet. 

"At length," says Joseph, "the time arrived for 
obtaining the plates and the Urim and Thummim. 
On the 22d of Sept. 1827, having gone as usual at 
the end of another year to the place where they 
were deposited, the same heavenly messenger de- 
livered them up to me with this charge, — that I 
should be responsible for them ; that if I should let 
them go carelessly, or through any neglect of mine, 
I should be cut off; but that if I should use my 
endeavors to preserve them until he (the messen- 
ger) should call for them, they should be protected. 

" I soon found out the reason why I had received 
such strict charges to keep them safe, and why it 
was that the messenger had said that when I had 



30 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

done what was required at my hand he would call 
for them ; for no sooner was it known that I had 
them, than the most strenuous exertions were made 
to get them from me. Every stratagem that could 
be invented was resorted to for that purpose. The 
persecution became more bitter and severe than 
before, and multitudes were on the alert continually 
to get them from me if possible. But by the wis- 
dom of God they remained safe in my hands, until I 
had accomplished by them what was required at my 
hand ; when, according to arrangement, the messen- 
ger called for them. I delivered them up to him, 
and he has them in his charge until this day. 

" The excitement, however, still continued, and 
rumor with her thousand tongues was all the time 
employed in circulating tales about my father's 
family, and about me. If I were to relate a thou- 
sandth part of them it would fill volumes. The 
persecution became so intolerable that I was under 
the necessity of leaving Manchester and going with 
my wife to Susquehanna Co., in the State of Penn- 
sylvania. 

"While preparing to start (being very poor, and 
the persecution so heavy upon us that there was no 
probability that we would ever be otherwise), in the 
midst of our afflictions we found a friend in a gen- 
tleman by the name of Martin Harris, who came to 
us and gave me fifty dollars to assist us in our 
afflictions. 

" Mr. Harris was a resident of Palmyra township, 
and a farmer of respectability. By this timely aid 
was I enabled to reach the place of my destination 
in Pennsylvania, and immediately after my arrival 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 3 1 

there I commenced copying the characters of the 
plates. I copied a considerable number of them, 
and by means of the Urim and Thummim I 
translated some of them ; which I did between 
the time I arrived at the house of my wife's father 
in the month of December and the February fol- 
lowing. 

" Some time in this month of February the before- 
mentioned Mr. Harris came to our place, got the 
characters which I had drawn off the plates, and 
started with them to the city of New York. For 

v 

what took place relative to him and the characters, 
I refer to his own account of the circumstances as 
he related them to me after his return : 

" ' I went to the city of New York, and presented 
the characters which had been translated, with the 
translation thereof, to Prof. Anthon, a gentleman 
celebrated for his literary attainments. Prof. Anthon 
stated that the translation was correct, — more so 
than any he had before seen translated from the 
Egyptian. I then showed him those which were not 
translated, and he said that they were Egyptian, 
Chaldaic, i\ssyriac and Arabic, and he said that they 
were the true characters. He gave me a certificate, 
certifying to the people of Palmyra that they were 
true characters, and that the translation of such of 
them as had been translated was also correct. I 
took the certificate and put it into my pocket, and 
was just leaving the house, when Mr. Anthon called 
me back, and asked how the young man found out 
there were gold plates in the place where he found 
them. I answered, that an angel of God had re- 



32 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

vealed it unto him. He then said to me, " Let me 
see that certificate." I accordingly took it out of 
my pocket and gave it to him, when he took it and 
tore it in pieces, saying that there was no such thing 
now as ministering of angels, and that if I would 
bring the plates to him he would translate them. I 
informed him that part of the plates were sealed, and 
that I was forbidden to bring them. He replied, " I 
cannot read a sealed book." I left him and went to 
Dr. Mitchell, who sanctioned what Prof. Anthon had 
said respecting both the characters and the transla- 
tion.' 

" Mr. Harris, having returned from this tour, left 
me and went home to Palmyra, arranged his affairs 
and returned again to my house about the 12th of 
April, 1828, and commenced writing for me while I 
translated from the plates." 

Mr. Harris, being anxious to show the writings to 
his friends at home, after he had made considerable 
progress with the work, asked permission to take 
them with him on a contemplated visit to his family. 
This was refused ; but after much importuning he 
was granted the coveted favor, under strict condi- 
tion, however, that he should show the writing to 
only five certain persons of his own family. 

"Notwithstanding, however," says Joseph, "the 
great restrictions which he had been laid under, and 
the solemnity of the covenant which he had made 
with me, he did show them to others, and by strat- 
agem they got them away from him, and they never 
have been recovered nor obtained back again unto 
this day." 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. $3 

The work of translation being thus interrupted 
through Martin Harris' perfidy, Joseph turned his 
attention for the time being to the sustenance of his 
family, receiving, however, from time to time, reve- 
lations from the Lord concerning the book, and 
also giving to him explicit counsel and guidance. 



CHAPTER VII. 

OLIVER COWDERY HIS INTRODUCTION TO THE FAM- 
ILY A REVELATION TO HIM AND JOSEPH HIS 

HISTORIC IMPORTANCE A REVELATION AFFIRM- 
ING THAT JOHN THE BELOVED NEVER TASTED 

DEATH JOHN THE BAPTIST APPEARS TO JOSEPH 

AND OLIVER AND CONFERS ON THEM THE 
AARONIC PRIESTHOOD. 

At about this time there came to the help of the 
work the personage who above all others sustained 
the most peculiar relation to the Prophet at the 
opening of the dispensation. It was Oliver Cow- 
dery, the man who became the scribe and chief 
witness of the Book of Mormon, and who with 
Joseph received the priesthood under the hands of 
John the Baptist. 

" On the 15th day of April, 1829, Oliver Cowdery 
came to my house, until which time I had never 
seen him. He stated to me that having been 
teaching school where my father resided, and my 
father being one of those who sent to school, he 
went to board for a season at his house, and while 
there, the family related to him the circumstance of 
my having received the plates, and accordingly he 
had come to make enquiries of me. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 35 

"Two days after the arrival of Mr. Cowdery, I 
commenced to translate the Book of Mormon, and 
he commenced to write for me, which having" con- 
tinued for some time, I enquired of the Lord through 
the Urim and TJmmmim, and obtained the follow- 
ing revelation : 

1. A great and marvelous work is about to come 
forth unto the children of men. Behold, I am God, 
and give heed unto my word, which is quick and 
powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, to the 
dividing asunder of both joints and marrow ; there- 
fore give heed unto my words. 

2. Behold the field is white already to harvest, 
therefore whoso desireth to reap, let him thrust in 
his sickle with his might, and reap while the day 
lasts, that he may treasure up for his soul everlast- 
ing salvation in the kingdom of God : yea, whoso- 
ever will thrust in his sickle and reap, the same is 
called of God ; therefore, if you will ask of me you 
shall receive ; if you will knock it shall be opened 
unto you. 

3. Now, as you have asked, behold, I say unto you, 
keep my commandments, and seek to bring forth 
and establish the cause of Zion, seek not for riches 
but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God 
shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be 
made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich. 

4. Verily, verily, I say unto you, even as you de- 
sire of me, so it shall be unto you ; and if you desire, 
you shall be the means of doing much good in this 
generation. Say nothing but repentance unto this 
generation: keep my commandments, and assist to 
bring forth my work, according to my command- 
ments, and you shall be blessed. 

5. Behold thou hast a gift, and blessed art thou 
because of thy gift. Remember it is sacred and 



2,6 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

cometh from above : and if thou wilt inquire, thou 
shalt know mysteries which are great and marvel- 
ous: therefore thou shalt exercise thy gift, that thou 
mayest find out mysteries, that thou mayest bring 
many to the knowledge of the truth ; yea, convince 
them of the error of their ways. Make not thy gift 
known to any, save it be those who are of thy faith. 
Trifle not with sacred things. If thou wilt do good, 
yea, and hold out faithful to the end, thou shalt be 
saved in the kingdom of God, which is the greatest 
of all the gifts of God ; for there is no gift greater 
than the gift of salvation. 

6. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, blessed art thou 
for what thou hast done, for thou hast inquired of 
me, and behold as often as thou hast inquired, thou 
hast received instruction of my Spirit. If it had not 
been so, thou wouldst not have come to the place 
where thou art at this time. 

7. Behold thou knowest that thou hast inquired 
of me, and I did enlighten thy mind ; and now I tell 
thee these things, that thou mayest know that thou 
hast been enlightened by the Spirit of truth ; yea, I 
tell thee, that thou mayest know that there is none 
else save God, that knowest thy thoughts and the 
intents of thy heart : I tell thee these things as a 
witness unto thee, that the words or the work which 
thou hast been writing is true. 

8. Therefore be diligent, stand by my servant 
Joseph faithfully, in whatsoever difficult circum- 
stances he may be for the word's sake. Admonish 
him in his faults, and also receive admonition of him. 
Be patient ; be sober; be temperate ; have patience, 
faith, hope and charity. 

9. Behold, thou art Oliver, and I have spoken 
unto thee because of thy desires ; therefore treasure 
up these words in thy heart. Be faithful and dili- 
gent in keeping the commandments of God, and I 
will encircle thee in the arms of my love. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. $J 

10. Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the son of God. I 
am the same that came unto my own, and my own 
received me not. I am the light which shineth in 
darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not. 

11. Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a 
further witness, cast your mind upon the night that 
you cried unto me in your heart, that you might 
know concerning the truth of these things. Did I 
not speak peace to your mind concerning the mat- 
ter? What greater witness can you have than from 
God? And now, behold, you have received a wit- 
ness, for if I have told you things which no man 
knoweth, have you not received a witness ? And, 
behold, I grant unto you a gift, if you desire of me, 
to translate even as my servant Joseph. 

12. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that there are 
records which contain much of my gospel, which 
have been kept back because of the wickedness of 
the people; and now I command you, that if you 
have good desires — a desire to lay up treasures for 
yourself in heaven — then shall you assist in bringing 
to light, with your gift, those parts of my scriptures 
which have been hidden because of iniquity. 

13. And now, behold, I give unto you, and also 
unto my servant Joseph, the keys of this gift, which 
shall bring to light this ministry; and in the mouth 
of two or three witnesses shall every word be estab- 
lished. 

14. Verily, verily, I say unto you, if they reject 
my words, and this part of my gospel and ministry, 
blessed are ye, for they can do no more unto you 
than unto me ; and if they do unto you, even as they 
have done unto me, blessed are ye, for you shall 
dwell with me in glory; but if they reject not my 
words, which shall be established by the testimony 
which shall be given, blessed are they, and then shall 
ye have joy in the fruit of your labors. 

15. Verily, verily, I say unto you, as I said unto 



38 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

my disciples, where two or three are gathered to- 
gether in my name, as touching one thing, behold, 
there will I be in the midst of them, even so am I 
in the midst of you. Fear not to do good, my sons, 
for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap ; 
therefore if ye sow good, ye shall also reap good for 
your reward. 

16. Therefore, fear not, little flock, do good; let 
earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are 
built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. Behold, I 
do not condemn you, go your ways and sin no more, 
perform with soberness the work which I have com- 
manded you ; look unto me in every thought ; doubt 
not, fear not; behold the wounds which pierced my 
side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands 
and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and 
ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen. 

The historic importance of this revelation is 
worthy of note, for it is substantially Joseph's first 
manifesto, as a prophet, that a "great and marvel- 
ous work" is "about to come forth unto the children 
of men." Personally addressed to Oliver Cowdery, 
yet did the subject matter concern the whole world. 
The rise of the Latter-day Church is now clearly 
announced, and the promise established in the min- 
istry of Joseph and Oliver, who were afterwards 
classed by revelation as the first and second elders 
of the church. There is also an historic value in 
the emphasis of this association, as it corrects that 
wide-spread, but radically false, statement that it was 
Joseph and Sidney Rigdon who devised what some 
have pleased to term "the scheme of Mormonism."^ 
This statement is found in all our popular encyclo- 
pedias, and yet there is a well-defined Mormon 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 39 

history, personally known to thousands, dating back 
years before Sidney Rigdon and Joseph ever met. 
The circumstantial narrative of Oliver Cowdery 's 
first intercourse with Joseph is, therefore, very 
necessary to the integrity of history. It is thus 
told by the mother of the Prophet: 

"In April, [1829] Samuel and Mr. Cowdery set 
out for Pennsylvania. The weather, for some time 
previous, had been very wet and disagreeable — rain- 
ing, freezing, and thawing alternately, which had 
rendered the roads almost impassable, particularly 
in the middle of the day. Notwithstanding, Mr. 
Cowdery was not to be detained, either by wind or 
weather, and they persevered until they arrived at 
Joseph's. 

"Joseph had been so hurried with his secular 
affairs, that he could not proceed with his spiritual 
concerns as fast as was necessary for the speedy 
completion of the work. There was also another 
disadvantage under which he labored: his wife had 
so much of her time taken up with the care of her 
house, that she could write for him but a small por- 
tion of the time. On account of these embarrass- 
ments, Joseph called upon the Lord, three days 
prior to the arrival of Samuel and Oliver, to send 
him a scribe, according to the promise of the angel, 
and he was informed that the same should be forth- 
coming in a few days. Accordingly, when Mr. 
Cowdery told him the business that he had come 
upon, Joseph was not at all surprised. 

Here is a connecting passage from Joseph himself, 
which will complete the account of the introduction 
of Oliver Cowdery to the Prophet and his family: 



4-0 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" After we had received this revelation [as previ- 
ously quoted], he (Oliver Cowdery) stated to me 
that after he had gone to my father's to board, and 
after the family communicated to him concerning 
my having got the plates, that one night after he 
had retired to bed he called upon the Lord to know 
if these things were so, and that the Lord mani- 
fested to him that they were true, but that he had 
kept the circumstance entirely secret, and had men- 
tioned it to no being; so that after this revelation 
having been given he knew that the work was true, 
because that no being living knew of the thing 
alluded to in the revelation, but God and himself." 



There was a prophet-like boldness about Joseph 
that at least must astonish the intellectual skeptic, 
even as it charms the reverent disciple. And at no 
period of his life was this more striking than be- 
tween his fourteenth and twenty-fourth year, when 
he was almost entirely unlettered, with no teacher 
but the angel, or, to put the most skeptical con- 
struction, with no other inspirer than his own daring 
genius. Till Oliver Cowdery came he had no ade- 
quate communion of thought with mortal, and even 
then Oliver was but the scribe and Joseph as the 
founder of a dispensation, — being already familiar 
with the knowledge of the eternities, or at least 
holding in his hands a key to unlock the mysteries 
of the heavens. A case illustrative of this occurred 
at the very opening of the intercourse .between 
Joseph and his scribe. He says: 

" During the month of April I continued to trans- 
late, and he to write, with little cessation, during 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 41 

which time we received several revelations. A dif- 
ference of opinion arising between us about the 
account of John the Apostle, mentioned in the New 
Testament (John, xxi-v, 22), whether he died or 
continued, we mutually agreed to settle it by the 
Urim and Thummim, and the following is the word 
which we received : 

1. And the Lord said unto me, John, my beloved, 
what desirest thou ? For if ye shall ask, what you 
will, it shall be granted unto you. And I said unto 
him, Lord, give unto me power over death, that I 
may live and bring souls unto thee. And the Lord 
said unto me, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, because 
thou desirest this thou shalt tarry until I come in 
my glory, and shalt prophesy before nations, kin- 
dred, tongues, and people. 

2. And for this cause the Lord said unto Peter, If 
I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? 
for he desired of me that he might bring souls unto 
me, but thou desiredst that thou mightest speedily 
come unto me in my kingdom. I say unto thee, 
Peter, this was a good desire, but my beloved has 
desired that he might do more, or a greater work 
yet among men than what he has before done ; yea, 
he has undertaken a greater work, therefore I will 
make him as flaming fire and a ministering angel : 
he shall minister for those who shall be heirs of sal- 
vation who dwell on the earth: and I will make thee 
to minister for him and for thy brother James ; and 
unto you three I will give this power and the keys 
of this ministry until I come. 

3. Verily, I say unto you, ye shall both have 
according to your desires, for ye both joy in that 
which ye have desired. 

This is the revelation that originated the view of 



42 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the church that John the Revelator never tasted 
death. It was also afterwards discovered by Joseph 
and Oliver, in their work of translating the Book of 
Mormon, that there were three Nephites who re- 
ceived the same extraordinary promise that they 
should tarry until the second coming of the Lord, 
performing a peculiar ministry among the nations, 
moving at their will, unknown except to a few 
chosen ones to whom they might reveal themselves. 
We shall meet these "three Nephites" hereafter. 

As the history of Joseph's ministry and work 
opens to the view he will be seen to rise from the 
mere translator of a sacred book to his character as 
Prophet of a new dispensation, and founder of the 
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Al- 
ready the Ancients of the East as well as the West 
— Apostles and Prophets of dispensations — are fast 
coming with their keys of power and authority into 
his ministry. The Book of Mormon is but the ini- 
tial. This Prophet is raising a mighty structure, 
with the keystones of all the ages, and it is very 
important, for a comprehension of his character and 
mission, that this view of him should be taken from 
the beginning. Immediately is to follow a grand 
illustration of this, for John the Baptist appears, to 
confer the keys of his ministry, bringing also a 
promise of the coming of Peter, James, and John 
the Revelator, with the keys of the priesthood of 
Melchisedeck. The Prophet narrates: 

" We still continued the work of translation when, 
in the ensuing month (May, 1829), we on a certain 
day went into the woods to pray and enquire of the 
Lord respecting baptism for the remission of sins, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 43 

as we found mentioned in the translation of the 
plates. While we were thus employed, praying and 
calling upon the Lord, a messenger from heaven 
descended in a cloud of light, and having laid his 
hands upon us, he ordained us, saying unto us, 
' Upon you my fellow-servants, in the name of Mes- 
siah, I confer the priesthood of Aaron, which holds 
the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the 
gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion, 
for the remission of sins ; and this shall never be 
taken aeain from the earth, until the sons of Levi 
do offer again an offering unto the Lord in right- 
eousness.' He said this Aaronic priesthood had 
not the power of laying on of hands for the gift of 
the Holy Ghost, but that this should be conferred 
on us hereafter, and he commanded us to go and be 
baptized, and gave us directions that I should bap- 
tize Oliver Cowdery, and afterwards that he should 
baptize me. 

" Accordingly, we went and were baptized; I bap- 
tized him first, and afterwards he baptized me; after 
which I laid my hands upon his head and ordained 
him to the Aaronic priesthood ; afterwards he laid 
his hands on me and ordained me to the same 
priesthood — for so we were commanded. 

" The messenger who visited us on this occasion, 
and conferred this priesthood upon us, said that his 
name was John, the same that is called John the 
Baptist in the Xew Testament, and that he acted 
under the direction of Peter, James, and John, who 
held the keys of the priesthood of Melchisedeck, 
which priesthood he said should in due time be 
conferred on us, and that I should be called the first 



44 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

elder and he the second. It was on the 15th day of 
May, 1829, that we were baptized, and ordained 
under the hand of the messenger. 

" Immediately on our coming up out of the water, 
after we had been baptized, we experienced great 
and glorious blessings from our Heavenly Father. 
No sooner had I baptized Oliver Cowdery than the 
Holy Ghost fell upon him, and he stood up and 
prophesied many things which should shortly come 
to pass. And again, as soon as I had been baptized 
by him, I also had the spirit of prophecy, when, 
standing up, I prophesied concerning the rise of the 
Church, and many other things connected with the 
Church and this generation of the children of men. 
We were filled with the Holy Ghost, and rejoiced in 
the God of our salvation." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

DIGEST OF THE BOOK OF MORMON HISTORY OF AN- 
CIENT AMERICA ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN 

INDIANS EXTINCTION OF A GREAT PEOPLE 

HOW THEIR RECORDS WERE KEPT, ETC. 

For the information of the general reader it will 
be proper to here introduce a rapid sketch or digest 
of the Book of Mormon, which may be called the 
Bible of Ancient America. It is representatively 
the sacred book of the Xephites ; and at the outset 
it may be told that the Nephites were the people 
who built many of those wonderful cities of Ancient 
America and gave birth to its civilization, — the 
relics of which, since the publication of the Book of 
Mormon, have been constantly coming to, light. 
The Xephites, however, were not the most ancient 
people of this Continent, of whom the Book reveals 
a history, but they are the people more nearly re- 
lated to the present dispensation and future destiny 
of this "land of promise." 

The Patriarch of the Nephites was an ancient, 
from Jerusalem, Xephi by name, — the son of Lehi. 
It is he who opens the Book of Mormon. 

" It came to pass," writes Nephi, introducing his 
history, " in the commencement of the first year of 



46 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah," that there 
" came many prophets, prophesying unto the people 
that they must repent, or the great city of Jerusalem 
must be destroyed." 

Among these prophets was Lehi, the father of 
Nephi ; and Lehi prayed unto the Lord in behalf 
of his people. And as he prayed " there came a 
pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him ; and 
he saw and heard much ; and because of the things 
which he saw and heard, he did quake and tremble 
exceedingly." 

After Lehi returned to his house at Jerusalem 
" he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with 
the spirit," when he was shown the destruction of 
Jerusalem, and "many marvelous things," and a 
book was revealed in his vision which " manifested 
plainly of the coming of Messiah, and also the re- 
demption of the world." 

Then Lehi " went forth among the people, and 
began to prophesy and to declare unto them con- 
cerning the things which he had both seen and 
heard." But the Jews sought his life; and then 
" the Lord commanded him in a dream to take his 
family and depart into the wilderness." 

This he did, accompanied by his family, consisting 
of Sariah his wife, and their sons Laman, Lemuel, 
Sam and Nephi. 

After traveling three days into the wilderness 
Lehi pitched his tent in a valley beside a river of 
water which "emptied into the Red Sea, and the 
valley was in the borders near the mouth thereof.". 
Here Lehi "built an altar and made an offering 
unto the Lord." 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 47 

But Laman and Lemuel, the elder sons, began to 
murmur against their father. At this point Nephi 
brings himself into the narrative thus : 

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being ex- 
ceeding young (nevertheless being large in stature), 
and having great desire to know of the mysteries of 
God, wherefore I did cry unto the Lord ; and behold 
he did visit me and did soften my heart thajt I did 
believe all the words which had been spoken by my 
father." And the Lord spake unto him, saying, 
" Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for 
thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of 
heart." 

Thus Nephi became the Lord's anointed, and 
thenceforth, though young, he had a divine ministry 
to his family. 

Nephi, having converted his brother Sam and by 
his divine enthusiasm having overcome the rebellion 
of his elder brothers against their father, he and his 
brothers, previous to the continuation of their mi- 
gration, returned to Jerusalem to obtain their family 
records, " which were engraved on plates of brass." 

These records rightfully belonged to Lehi, but 
were now in possession of his kinsman Laban, who 
was a warrior and an influential man in Jerusalem. 

When Nephi and his brothers drew near to the 
city they cast lots to determine who should go to 
Laban to demand of him the family records. The 
lot fell upon Laman, who in the sequel was driven 
from the presence of Laban, and he fled out of the 
city to his brethren. 

But young Nephi was invincible in his courage 
and faith. 



48 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

The patriarch Lehi, in his flight from Jerusalem 
had left all his wealth. So Nephi now persuaded 
his brethren, and, he says, "We went down to the 
land of our inheritance, and we did gather together 
our gold, and our silver, and our precious things. 
And after that we had gathered these things to- 
gether we went up again unto the house of 
Laban." 

For the family records they offered all this wealth, 
but, says Nephi, "When Laban saw our property, 
and that it was exceeding great, he did lust after it. 
insomuch that he thrust us out, and sent his servants 
to slay us, that he might obtain our property." But 
in the issue Nephi overcame Laban, and obtained 
the records through Zoram, Laban's servant, who, 
being promised his freedom, made an oath to Nephi 
and accompanied the family in their migration. 

The obtaining of these plates was of the utmost 
importance to the Israelitish colonists now leaving 
their native Jerusalem in quest of another "land of 
promise," for on them were engraved the five books 
of Moses and the history of the Jews from the be- 
ginning down to the commencement of the reign of 
Zedekiah, King of Judah; and also the prophecies 
of the Jewish prophets to that date. 

Thus was Lehi furnished with the basis of a civ- 
ilization to be founded in the land whither the Lord 
was leading them. 

But there was another want more important to 
be supplied than the obtaining of the records, — 
indeed an imperative necessity in the colonization 
of a new world. Lehi's sons were without wives. ' 
So, being commanded by the Lord, he sent Nephi 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 49 

and his brothers again to Jerusalem to "bring down 
Ishmael and his family into the wilderness." 

Now Ishmael, Lehi's friend, had several sons and 
five daughters. So the two families became united 
in the grand purpose of colonizing the new world 
which the prophet Lehi saw in faith. 

Then the voice of the Lord again spake unto 
Lehi by night and commanded him that on the 
morrow he should continue his journey; so these 
Israelitish colonists plunged deeper into the wilder- 
ness towards the great sea which they were to cross 
to reach the promised land. 

For eight years they sojourned in the wilderness, 
but at length came to a land which they called 
Bountiful because of its fruit and wild honey and 
the general abundance of the country. " And all 
these," says Nephi, " were prepared of the Lord, that 
we might not perish. And we beheld the sea, which 
we called Irreantum, which being interpreted is 
many waters." 

By the sea shore they pitched their tents. Nephi, 
by divine right and force of character, is leader of 
his brethren. Upon his head, during the sojourn in 
the wilderness the murmurings fell. His brothers 
and their wives, and the sons of Ishmael and their 
wives, often reproached him as an ambitious vision- 
ary who had led them into the wilderness, far away 
from civilization, that he might make himself a 
" king and ruler" over them. It is evident that they 
were all conscious of his force and genius. The 
narrative thus continues: 

"And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had 
been in the land of Bountiful for the space of many 

4 



5<D LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

days, the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying, 
'Arise and get thee into the mountain.' And I 
arose and went up into the mountain, and cried 
unto the Lord. 

" And the Lord spake unto me, saying, 'Thou 
shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I 
shall shew thee, that I may carry thy people across 
these waters. 

"And I said, Lord, whither shall I go, that I may 
find ore to molten, that I may make tools to con- 
struct the ship, after the manner which thou hast 
shewn me ? And it came to pass that the Lord 
told me whither I should go to find ore to make 
tools." 

During the construction of the ship there were 
repeated rebellions against Nephi; but his superior 
will and cunning workmanship charmed some of 
them to his assistance, while at times also the Spirit 
of the Lord so kindled his lion-like nature that 
his rebellious brethren trembled before him. But 
Nephi preferred to display to them the character of 
the lamb, and to be to them the younger brother. 

At length the ship was constructed. Then the 
voice of the Lord came unto the patriarch Lehi, 
saying, " Arise and go down into the ship." 

Many years had now elapsed since these colonists 
left Jerusalem ; but there had been wisdom in the 
protracted sojourn, for the colony had greatly in- 
creased. Lehi had become the father of two more 
sons, — Jacob and Joseph, — so that from him ulti- 
mately sprang six tribes. Then there were the sons 
of Ishmael, and of Zoram, the servant of Laban 
(through whom Nephi, as has been shown, obtained 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 5 1 

the sacred plates), who had married the eldest 
daughter of Ishmael. And very probably there 
were manservants and maidservants, Lehi and 
Ishmael both having been wealthy elders in Jeru- 
salem. And many children had been born to the 
families in the wilderness and in the land of Boun- 
tiful, some of whom were now stripling sons and 
nearly marriageable daughters. Thus the colony 
had ripened. 

''And it came to pass," says Nephi, "that on the 
morrow, after that we had prepared all things, much 
fruit and meat from the wilderness, and honey in 
abundance, and provisions, according to that which 
the Lord had commanded us, we did go down into 
the ship with all our loading and our seeds, and 
whatsoever things we had brought with us, every 
one according to his age ; wherefore we did all go 
down into the ship with our wives and our children." 
Thus in a strict patriarchal order. 

By miraculous guidance these emigrants of Israel 
were led across the great waters, under Xephi, who 
wrote as follows of the close of the voyage and their 
landing: 

" After we had sailed for the space of many days, 
we did arrive at the promised land ; and we went 
forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents; and 
we did call it the Promised Land. 

" And it came to pass that we did begin to till 
the earth, and we began to plant seeds ; yea we did 
put all our seeds into the earth which we had 
brought from the land of Jerusalem." 

Their first crops were abundant ; and, continues 
oS'ephi, "we did find upon the Land of Promise, as 



^ 



52 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

we journeyed in the wilderness, that there were 
beasts in the forest of every kind, both the cow, 
and the ox, and the ass, and the horse, and the goat, 
and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, 
which were for the use of men. And we did find 
all manner of ore, both of gold and of silver and 
copper." 

Already had they met signs of a former civiliza- 
tion, besides nature in her primitive wildness ; and, 
as their records of a later period relate, they found 
the relics of a very ancient people, with a national 
history commencing before Abraham was born — an 
empire of the West as old as that of Egypt, whose 
mighty cities nourished ere the foundations of Jeru- 
salem were laid. 

After these Hebrew colonists had become fairly 
settled in America (for, in plain words, they had 
been led to America), Nephi attempted to establish 
in the land a regular Israelitish commonwealth, with 
the law of Moses as the basis. He also sought to 
keep alive among his brethren the remembrance of 
the writings of the Jewish prophets, and to inspire 
them with the words of glorious Isaiah, whose 
genius most charmed him. And thus it will be seen 
that Nephi possessed at once the true empire- 
founding character and the soul of prophecy. 

The patriarch Lehi was now about to gather up 
his feet and sleep with his fathers. But he was 
quite as anxious as his empire-founding son that his 
tribes should grow into a mighty nation upon the 
plan of the Hebrew Commonwealth. True, the 
Lord had made a covenant with Lehi that he would 
give unto him this vast Land of Promise, compared 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 53 

with which Palestine was as a mere garden plot for 
extent, yet he sought to establish the covenant, 
made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as the anchor 
of his new world. 

So Lehi, before his death, gathered together his 
sons and daughters, and the sons and daughters of 
Ishmael, and Zoram and his household, and the 
generation of the families which had been born 
since they left Jerusalem ; and he expounded to 
them the Scriptures, and rehearsed all the history 
of their Hebrew sires. Then he blessed them in 
the order of their families. And " after Lehi had 
spoken unto all his household, according to the 
feelings of his heart, and the spirit of the Lord 
which was in him, he waxed old. And it came to 
pass that he died and was buried." 

Scarcely were the days of mourning ended ere 
the strife against Nephi was renewed ; and being 
convinced that the hatred was becoming hereditary, 
he resolved to separate from the fast increasing 
tribes of Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael. 
Accordingly he says, " I, Nephi, did take my family, 
and Sam, mine elder brother, and his family, and 
Jacob and Joseph, my younger brethren, and also 
my sisters, and all they which would go with me. 
* And after that we had journeyed for the 
space of many days, we did pitch our tents. And 
my people would that we should call the name of 
the place Nephi ; wherefore we did call it Nephi. 
And all they which were with me did take it upon 
them to call themselves the people of Nephi. And 
we did observe to keep the judgments, and the 
statutes, and the commandments of the Lord, in all 



54 L i FE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

things, according to the law of Moses. And the 
Lord was with us, and we did prosper exceedingly." 

From the commencement of the Nephite era this 
great prophet and empire-founder of Ancient Amer- 
ica was successful in establishing civilization. No 
longer did his people lead the life of nomads. Says 
he, " I did teach my people that they should build 
buildings, and that they should work in all manner 
of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, 
and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of 
precious ores, which were in great abundance. And 
I, Nephi, did build a temple, and I did construct it 
after the manner of the temple of Solomon, save it 
was not built of so many precious things " * . * * 
but the manner of the construction was like unto 
the temple of Solomon ; and the workmanship there- 
of was exceeding fine. * * * 

" And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did consecrate 
Jacob and Joseph, that they should be priests and 
teachers over the land of my people. And we lived 
after the manner of happiness. And thirty years 
had passed away from the time we left Jerusalem." 

Thus commenced the history of the Nephites, as 
a nation. 

At the expiration of forty years Nephi wrote that 
already had war begun between the Nephites and 
the Lamanites. At fifty-five years from the time 
Lehi left Jerusalem the records were committed to 
Jacob, who wrote : 

" Now Nephi began to be old, and he saw that he 
must soon die ; therefore he anointed a man to be 
a king and ruler over his people. * * * And it 
came to pass that Nephi died." 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 55 

And Enos succeeded his father, Jacob, in the 
priestly and prophetic office ; and Jarom succeeded 
his father, Enos, while the kingly office was con- 
firmed in the sons of Nephi. Jarom, continuing 
the record, wrote : 

" And now, behold, two hundred years had passed 
away, and the people of Nephi had waxed strong 
in the land. They observed to keep the law of 
Moses and the Sabbath day holy unto the Lord, 
and they profaned not ; neither did they blaspheme. 
And the laws of the land were exceeding strict." 

Of the Lamanites, he says, they were more 
numerous than the Nephites ; "and they loved 
murder and would drink the blood of beasts. And 
they came many times against the Nephites to bat- 
tle. But our kings and our leaders were mighty 
men in the faith of the Lord ; wherefore we with- 
stood the Lamanites, and swept them away out of 
our lands, and began to fortify our cities. * * * 
And the prophets, and the priests, and the teachers 
did labor diligently, exhorting, with all long-suffering, 
the people to diligence ; teaching the law of Moses, 
and the intent for which it was given ; persuading 
them to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe 
in him to come as though he already was." 

From father to son the priesthood was handed 
down, and with it the sacred records engraven on 
plates, to which each possessor from time to time 
added something of the history of his people. 

The prophet Amaleki, who lived about four 
hundred years after the flight of Lehi from Jerusa- 
lem, relates that the land of Nephi having fallen, 
under the invasions of the warlike Lamanites, King 



56 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Mosiah led those of his people who would follow 
him out of the land of their fathers, being thus 
commanded of the Lord. It was nothing less than 
the exodus of the Nephites to preserve themselves 
from bondage. Amaleki wrote : 

" And they were led by many preachings and 
prophesyings. And they were admonished con- 
tinually by the word of God ; and they were led by 
the power of his arm, through the wilderness, until 
they came down into the land which is called Zara- 
hemla. And they discovered a people called the 
people of Zarahemla." 

These also had descended from an Israelitish 
colony who left Jerusalem soon after the patriarch 
Lehi, and who seem to have followed nearly in his 
tracks. They had been led by the same power, and 
had thus escaped the Babylonian captivity. They 
had become very numerous in America, but their 
language was corrupted, for the fathers brought no 
records with them from Jerusalem. King Zarahem- 
la, however, knew the origin of his people by tradi- 
tion, and he rejoiced exceedingly at having the 
language of his race restored, and his kingdom 
taught the religion of their Hebrew sires, by the 
elders of the Nephites. This done the two king- 
doms became united under King Mosiah. 

After Mosiah, King Benjamin reigned in his 
stead. And "behold," says the record, " King Ben- 
jamin was a holy man, and he did reign over his 
people in righteousness." 

Now Benjamin was more of a prophet and a 
preacher than a king. And he sent a proclamation 
to all his people that they might gather themselves 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 57 

together and come up to the temple to hear the 
word of the Lord from his lips; for the spirit of 
revelation was in him, even as it had been in his 
great progenitor Nephi. 

And multitudes came up, in families. "And they 
pitched their tents round about the temple, that 
thereby they might remain in their tents, and hear 
the words which King Benjamin should speak unto 
them ; for the multitude being so great King Ben- 
jamin could not teach them all within the walls of 
the temple, therefore he caused a tower to be 
erected, that thereby his people might hear the 
words which he should speak unto them." 

Then King Benjamin rehearsed the religion of 
their Hebrew fathers, according to Moses and the 
Prophets ; but the coming of Christ and salvation 
in him formed the great subject of his sermons. 
For from Nephi down to Benjamin the revelation 
of the coming Saviour was chief in the teachings of 
the Nephite Prophets. 

And "when King Benjamin had made an end of 
speaking the words which had been delivered unto 
him by the Angel of the Lord, he cast his eyes 
round about on the multitude, and behold, they had 
fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had 
come upon them." 

Having converted the whole people of Zarahemla 
to faith in the coming Christ, King Benjamin estab- 
lished a church in his name. Says the record : 

" And now King Benjamin thought it was expe- 
dient, after having finished speaking to the people, 
that he should take the names of all those who had 
entered into a covenant with God, to keep his com- 



58 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

mandments. And it came to pass that there was 
not one soul, except it were little children, but 
what had entered into the covenant, and had taken 
upon them the name of Christ." 

To more fully accomplish his ministry King Ben- 
jamin appointed his son Mosiah to reign in his 
stead ; and this was in the four hundred and 
seventy-sixth year from the time Lehi left Jeru- 
salem. 

And in the days of Mosiah rose the great High 
Priest Alma, who became the head of the- church. 
He baptized the people, ordained a regular priest- 
hood, and established churches throughout the land 
in the name of the coming Christ. 

At the death of the great High Priest Alma, his 
son Alma succeeded him. 

" And Mosiah died also, in the thirty and third 
year of his reign, being sixty and three years old, 
making in the whole five hundred and nine years 
from the time Lehi left Jerusalem. And thus 
ended the reign of the kings over the people of 
Nephi ; and thus ended the days of Alma who was 
the founder of their church." 

From this time to the destruction of the Nephites 
a theocracy prevailed, commencing with " Alma the 
First, chief judge over the people of Nephi, and 
High Priest over the church." 

But for several generations prior to the coming 
of Christ, the church which the great High Priest 
Alma founded fell into darkness and transgression. 
Then arose prophets to warn the people and to point 
to the near approach of the Son of Man with his 
mission as the Saviour of the whole world, and the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 59 

sign of his coming was given in such solemn splen- 
dor of a manifest God that all the people knew its 
import. During the ministry of his life in Jerusa- 
lem, however, the Nephites, like the virgins of the 
parable, slumbered and slept and their lamps went 
out. Then came the crucifixion and the resurrec- 
tion, after which Jesus appeared to the people of 
this continent, chose apostles, set up his church, and 
tarried personally with them for quite a season in 
his immortalized state, appearing at times to the 
multitude. 

But the circumstantial account of the personal 
administration of Jesus Christ to the Nephites, after 
his resurrection, must be reserved for a more con- 
spicuous view, further on. We will also, for the 
present, pass over the three or four centuries of the 
history of the Nephites succeeding the first coming 
of Messiah, and will close this digest w r ith a sketch 
of the history of Mormon and Moroni, the latcer 
having revealed the record to Joseph, and opened a 
dispensation to the Continent of which he is an 
Archangel. 

Moroni was the last of that sacred line through 
which the records had been handed down for a 
thousand years. They had all been kings and 
descendants of kings or prophets and high priests, 
who had been entrusted with the sacred books and 
the Urim and Thiimmim. Moroni was the son of 
Mormon. 

This Mormon was a great prophet and general, 
who succeeded for a generation in warding off the 
destruction of his nation. He tells us in his book, 
which he called the book of Mormon, that he was 



6o LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

a descendant of Nephi. When he was eleven years 
old he was carried by his father Mormon to the 
land of Zarahemla. In that same year the wars be- 
gan again between the Nephites and the Lamanites. 

In these sacred books of the prophets of ancient 
America may be read how, by the ministry of Jesus 
Christ after his resurrection, and the subsequent 
ministry of his apostles whom he chose among the 
Nephites, the whole land had been converted to 
righteousness, and for two centuries thereafter both 
the Nephites and the Lamanites formed something 
like one christian brotherhood. But at the close of 
the second century the church began to apostatize, 
and the civilization of the Nephites rapidly declined 
until they were, as a nation, ripe for destruction. 

In the three hundred and twenty-fifth year of the 
Christian era the ministry of Mormon commenced, 
and of this period he writes : 

" Wickedness did prevail upon the face of the 
whole land, insomuch that the Lord did take away 
his beloved disciples, and the working of miracles 
and of healing did cease, because of the iniquity of 
the people. And there were no gifts from the 
Lord, and the Holy Ghost did not come upon any 
because of wickedness and unbelief." 

When very young, the prophet Mormon having 
shown already the genius of a commander, and 
being of the sacred race of their kings, was chosen 
deader of all the armies of the Nephites. For a 
time he was victorious, and his people manifested 
something of a return to the spirit of faith and 
righteousness; but they soon relapsed into deeper 
unbelief and wickedness. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 6l 

Then the wars between the Lamanites and Neph- 
ites waxed fiercer than before; and thus, for fifty 
years, until righteous Mormon grew old and was as 
one broken-hearted, because of the transgressions 
and fast destruction of his people. Of this period 
he writes : 

"And it came to pass that I, Mormon, did utterly 
refuse from this time forth, to be a commander and 
leader of this people, because of their wickedness 
and abomination. Behold I had led them notwith- 
standing their wickedness. I had led them many 
times to battle, and had loved them according to 
the love of God that was in me, with all my heart ; 
and my soul had been poured out to God, all the 
day long, for them ; nevertheless, it was without 
faith, because of the hardness of their hearts. And 
thrice have I delivered them out of the hands of 
their enemies, and they have repented not of their 
sins." 

From this time the history of the Nephites is that 
of a nation rushing to extinction. Being a people 
whose mission from the beginning had been one of 
peace and civilization — to make this vast continent 
indeed a land of promise — they were no match for 
the warlike Lamanites. Only in their own mission 
had they been potent, for it was their prophets, 
their righteous judges, and the spiritual power and 
excellence of their Christian brotherhood that had 
so often and so long awed and softened the hearts 
of their enemies. When this peculiar nation put off 
its armor of righteousness it wrote its own doom, 
and gave its cities to the spoiler. 

But before the final destruction of his people, 



62 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Mormon repented of his oath, and resolved to 
make one last effort to save them. The final strug- 
gle is best related by himself: 

And it came to pass that when we had gathered 
in all our people in one to the land of Cumorah, 
behold I, Mormon, began to be old ; and knowing 
it to be the last struggle of my people, and having 
been commanded of the Lord that I should not 
suffer that the records which had been handed down 
by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the 
hands of the Lamanites (for the Lamanites would 
destroy them), therefore I made this record out of 
the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill Cumorah, 
all the records which had been entrusted to me by 
the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates 
which I gave unto my son Moroni. And it came 
to pass that my people, with their wives and their 
children, did now behold the armies of the Laman- 
ites marching towards them ; and with that awful 
fear of death which fills the breasts of all the 
wicked, did they await to receive them. And it 
came to pass that they came to battle against us, 
and every soul was filled with terror, because of the 
greatness of their numbers. And it came to pass 
that they did fall upon my people with the sword, 
and with the bow, and with the arrow, and with the 
axe, and with all manner of weapons of war. And 
it came to pass that my men were hewn down, yea, 
even my ten thousand who were with me, and I fell 
wounded in the midst; and they passed by me that 
they did not put an end to my life. And when they 
had gone through and hewn down all my people 
save it were twenty and four of us (among whom 
was my son Moroni), and we having survived the 
dead of our people, did behold on the morrow, when 
the Lamanites had returned unto their camps, from 
the top of the hill Cumorah, the ten thousand of 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 63 

my people who were hewn down, being led in the 
front by me ; and we also beheld the ten thousand 
of my people who were led by my son Moroni. And 
behold, the ten thousand of Gidgiddonah had fallen, 
and he also in the midst ; and Lamah had fallen 
with his ten thousand ; and Gilgal had fallen with 
his ten thousand ; and Limhah had fallen with his 
ten thousand; and J on earn had fallen with his ten 
thousand ; and Camenihah, and Moronihah, and 
Antionum, and Shiblom, and Shem, and Josh, had 
fallen with their ten thousand each. 

And it came to pass that there were ten more 
who did fail by the sword, with their ten thousand 
each ; yea, even all my people, save it were those 
twenty and four who were with me, and also a few 
who had escaped into the south countries, and a 
few who had dissented over unto the Lamanites. 
had fallen, and their flesh, and bones, and blood lay 
upon the face of the earth, being left by the hands 
of those who slew them, to moulder upon the land, 
and to crumble and to return to their mother earth. 
And my soul was rent with anguish, because of the 
slain of my people. 

It is Moroni who closes the book after the death 
of his father, and it was he who hid up the records 
in the hill Cumorah. He thus finishes: 

44 Xow I, Moroni, write somewhat as seemeth me 
good; and I write unto my brethren, the Laman- 
ites ; and I would that they should know that more 
than four hundred and twenty years have passed 
away since the sign was given of the coming of 
Christ. And I seal up these records, after I have 
spoken a few words by way of exhortation unto you." 

Moroni eave his exhortation, and then closed the 
Bible of his Continent thus : 



64 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

"And now I bid unto all, Farewell. I soon go 
to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit 
and body shall again reunite, and I am brought 
forth triumphant through the air, to meet you 
before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the 
Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen." 



CHAPTER IX. 

RISE OF THE CHURCH RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 

ANCIENT METHODS THE THREE WITNESSES 

JOSEPH THE ARCHITECT OF THE LATTER-DAY 

DISPENSATION ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH 

THE FIRST MIRACLE JOSEPH ARRESTED AND 

TRIED FOR CASTING OUT A DEVIL CONTINUA- 
TION OF HIS NARRATIVE. 

From the administration of John the Baptist 
dates the rise of the Church, though it did not 
receive organic form until the following year. 

There were now two baptized disciples of the 
great Latter-day Work — Joseph and Oliver. This 
is a fine illustration of the strictness of gospel 
methods as interpreted by the Prophet, and strik- 
ingly brings up the example of Jesus coming to 
John for baptism in Jordan. 

"Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becomes us to 
fulfill all righteousness." 

It will also be observed that though John the 
Baptist connected the links from the ancients, and 
restored to earth the keys of a priesthood belonging 
to the lineage of his fathers, Joseph and Oliver 
baptized each other members of the Church, and 
ordained each other to the Aaronic ministry. Thus 

5 



66 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

was the everlasting order of the priesthood re- 
established ; and the example was of supreme im- 
portance to the Church, settling forever the law 
that all must enter into the Kingdom of God 
through the waters of baptism, under the hands of 
one having authority. 

Quickly now arose the Church, and from disciple 
to disciple the proclamation spread that "a great 
and marvelous work was about to come forth among 
the children of men." 

" Our minds being now enlightened," says Joseph, 
"we began to have the Scriptures laid open to our 
understandings, and the true meaning of their more 
mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner 
which we never could attain to previously, nor ever 
before had through t of. In the meantime we were 
forced to keep secret the circumstances of our hav- 
ing been baptized and having received the priest- 
hood, owing to a spirit of persecution which had 
already manifested itself in the neighborhood. * * 
After a few days, however, we commenced to reason 
out of the Scriptures with our acquaintances and 
friends, as we happened to meet them. About this 
time my brother Samuel H. Smith came to visit us. 
We informed him of what the Lord was about to do 
for the children of men, and to reason with him out 
of the Bible. We also showed him that part of the 
work which we had translated, and labored to per- 
suade him concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ 
which was now about to be revealed in its fullness. 
He was not, however, very easily persuaded of these 
things, but after much inquiry and explanation he 
retired to the woods, in order that by secret and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 67 

fervent prayer he might obtain of a merciful God, 
wisdom to enable him to judge for himself. The 
result was that he obtained revelations sufficient to 
convince him of the truth of our assertions to him, 
and on the 15th day of that same month in which 
we had been baptized and ordained, Oliver Cowdery 
baptized him ; and he returned to his father's house 
greatly glorifying and praising God, being filled 
with the Holy Spirit." 

Not many days afterwards his brother Hyrum 
Smith came, when, at his earnest request, Joseph 
enquired of the Lord, through the Urim and 
Thummim, and received for him a revelation. It 
was to him also the proclamation of the coming 
forth of " a great and marvelous work." " Behold, 
the field is white already to harvest ; therefore, 
whoso desireth to reap, let him thrust in his sickle 
with all his might and reap while the day lasts." 

''About the same time," says Joseph, "came an 
old gentleman to visit us, of whose name I wish to 
make honorable mention — Mr. Joseph Knight, sen., 
of Colesville, Broome Co., N. Y., who having heard 
of the manner in which we were occupying our 
time, very kindly and considerately brought us a 
quantity of provisions, in order that we might not 
be interrupted in the work of translation by the 
want of such necessaries of life; and I would just 
mention here, as in duty bound, that he several 
times brought us supplies (a distance of at least 
thirty* miles), which enabled us to continue the 
work, which otherwise we must have relinquished 
for a season." 

He also enquired of the Lord, and received 



68 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

answer similar to that given to Hyrum, previously. 
The familiar narrative of Joseph continues: 

" Shortly after commencing to translate, I became 
acquainted with Mr. Peter Whitmer, of Fayette, 
Seneca Co., N. Y., and also with some of his family. 
In the beginning of the month of June, his son, 
David Whitmer, came to the place where we were 
residing, and brought with him a two-horse wagon, 
for the purpose of having us accompany him to his 
father's place, and there remain until we should 
finish the work. He proposed that we should have 
our board free of charge, and the assistance of one 
of his brothers to write for me, as also his own 
assistance when convenient. 

" Having much need of such timely aid in an 
undertaking so arduous, and being informed that 
the people of the neighborhood were anxiously 
awaiting the opportunity to enquire into these 
things, we accepted the invitation, and accompanied 
Mr. Whitmer to his father's house, and there resided 
until the translation was finished and the copyright 
secured. Upon our arrival, we found Mr. Whitmer's 
family very anxious concerning the work, and very 
friendly toward ourselves. They continued so, 
boarded and lodged us according to proposal, 
and John Whitmer, in particular, assisted us very 
much in writing during the remainder of the work. 

" In the meantime, David, John, and Peter Whit- 
mer, jun., became our zealous friends and assistants 
in the work, and being anxious to know their re- 
spective duties, and having desired with much 
earnestness that I should enquire of the Lord con- 
cerning them, I did so." 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET* 69 

These all received nearly the same proclamation, 
concerning the rise of the Latter-day Church ; and 
it may be here noticed that these revelations and 
those received during the next two or three years, 
for the enquiring disciples as they came, have given 
the subject matter to the Book of Doctrine and 
Covenants. In those days the revelations were 
historical links of the Church, but given here would 
be but as a collection of documents, all of which 
may be found embodied in the book above men- 
tioned. 

In Seneca Co., Joseph and his few disciples found 
the people in general friendly, and disposed to en- 
quire into the truth of the strange tidings which 
began to be noised abroad, and many opened their 
houses for the preaching of the new gospel. In the 
same month (June, 1829,) Hyrum Smith, David 
YVhitmer, and Peter Whitmer, jun., were baptized 
in Seneca Lake, the two former by Joseph, and the 
latter by Oliver Cowdery. From this time forth 
many became believers and were baptized. 

In the course of translation it was found that 
" three special witnesses were to be provided by the 
Lord, to whom he would grant that they should see 
the plates." Joseph thereupon enquired of the 
Lord, by the usual method, and obtained a revela- 
tion indicating Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, 
and Martin Harris, as the " three special witnesses" 
of the Book of Mormon. The fulfillment of the 
promise shall be told by the Prophet himself, as 
shall all other matters strictly forming the Testa- 
ment of the Latter Days. He says: 

" Not many days after the above commandment 



JO LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

was given, we four, viz.: Martin Harris, David 
Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and myself, agreed to 
retire into the woods, and try to obtain by fervent 
and humble prayer, the fulfillment of the promises 
given in the revelation, that they should have 
a view of the plates, etc. We accordingly made 
choice of a piece of woods convenient to Mr. Whit- 
mer's house, to which we retired, and having knelt 
down we began to pray in much faith to Almighty 
God to bestow upon us a realization of these prom- 
ises. According to previous arrangements I com- 
menced by vocal prayer to our Heavenly Father, 
and was followed by each of the rest in succession. 
We did not, however, obtain any answer or mani- 
festation of the divine favor in our behalf. We 
again observed the same order of prayer, each 
calling on, and praying fervently to God in rotation, 
but with the same result as before. Upon this, our 
second failure, Martin Harris proposed that he 
should withdraw himself from us, believing, as he 
expressed himself, that his presence was the cause 
of our not obtaining what we wished for. He ac- 
cordingly withdrew from us, and we knelt down 
again, and had not been many minutes engaged in 
prayer, when presently we beheld a light above us 
in the air, of exceeding brightness; and, behold, an 
angel stood before us. In his hands he held the 
plates which we had been praying for these to have 
a view of. He turned over the leaves, one by one, 
so that we could see them, and discover the engrav- 
ings thereon distinctly. He then addressed himself 
to David Whitmer, and said, ' David, blessed is the 
Lord, and he that keeps his commandments.' When 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROrHET. Jl 

immediately afterwards, we heard a voice from out 
of the bright light above us, saying, 'These plates 
have been revealed by the power of God, and they 
have been translated by the power of God. The 
translation of them which you have seen is correct, 
and I command you to bear record of what you now 
see and hear.' 

" I now left David and Oliver, and went in pursuit 
of Martin Harris, whom I found at a considerable 
distance fervently engaged in prayer. He soon told 
me, however, that he had not yet prevailed with the 
Lord, and earnestly requested me to join him in 
prayer, that he also might realize the same blessings 
which we had just received. We accordingly joined 
in prayer, and ultimately obtained our desires, for 
before we had yet finished, the same vision was 
opened to our view, — at least it was again to me, 
and I once more beheld and heard the same things, 
whilst at the same moment, Martin Harris cried 
out, apparently in ecstacy of joy, ''Tis enough; 
mine eyes have beheld,' and jumping up, he shouted 
hosannah, blessing God, and otherwise rejoiced ex- 
ceedingly." 

The three witnesses now drew up their testimony 
" to all nations, kindreds, tongues and people ;" and 
soon afterward " eight witnesses" were added, who 
also drew up their testimony. Their names were 
Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, Peter Whit- 
mer, jun., John Whitmer, Hyrum Page, Joseph 
Smith, sen., Hyrum Smith, and Samuel H. Smith. 
Their testimonies may be found introducing the 
Book of Mormon. 

Meantime the Prophet and his scribe continued 



J2 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the work of translation, and disciples flocked to 
their standard. 

" We now became anxious," says Joseph, " to have 
that promise realized to us, which the angel that 
conferred upon us the Aaronic priesthood had given 
us, viz. : that provided we continued faithful, we 
should also have the Melchisidec priesthood, which 
holds the authority of the laying on of hands for 
the gift of the Holy Ghost. We had for some time 
made this matter a subject of humble prayer, and 
at length we got together in the chamber of Mr. 
Whitmer's house, in order more particularly to 
seek of the Lord what we now so earnestly desired; 
and here, to our unspeakable satisfaction, did we 
realize the truth of the Saviour's promise — 'Ask, 
and you shall receive ; seek, and you shall find ; 
knock, and it shall be opened unto you ; ' for we 
had not long been engaged in solemn and fervent 
prayer, when the word of the Lord came unto us in 
the chamber, commanding us that I should ordain 
Oliver Cowdery to be an elder in the church of 
Jesus Christ, and that he also should ordain me to 
the same office, and then to ordain others as it 
should be made known unto us from time to time. 
We were, however, commanded to defer this, our 
ordination, until such times as it should be practi- 
cable to have our brethren, who had been and who 
should be baptized, assembled together, when we 
must have their sanction to our thus proceeding to 
ordain each other, and have them decide by vote 
whether they were willing to accept us as spiritual 
teachers or not, when also we were commanded to* 
bless bread and break it with them, and to take 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 73 

wine, bless it and drink it with them, afterward pro- 
ceeding to ordain each other according to command- 
ment, then call out such men as the spirit should 
dictate and ordain them, and then attend to the 
laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, 
upon all those whom we had previously baptized, 
doing- all things in the name of the Lord." 

Immediately upon this was given a revelation, 
thus headed: ''Revelation to Joseph Smith, jun., 
Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer, making 
known the calling of Twelve Apostles in these last 
days; and also instructions relative to building tip 
the Church of Christ, according to the fullness of 
the Gospel. Given in Fayette, N. Y., June, 1829." 
[See Doc. and Gov.] 

It has often been remarked that the Twelve 
Apostles were not called until years after the organ- 
ization of the Church, namely, in 1835, just before 
the completion of the Kirtland Temple. But it 
will be seen that the revelation " making known the 
calling of Twelve Apostles in these last days" was 
given in 1829, before the organization of the 
Church. How significant is this passage: 

" And now, behold, I give unto you, Oliver Cow- 
dery, and also unto David Whitmer, that you shall 
search out the Twelve, who shall have the desires 
of which I have spoken, and by their desires and 
their works you shall know them ; and when you 
have found them, you shall show these things unto 
them." 

The calling of the Twelve was no after-thought. 
Joseph is seen to be the perfect master and archi- 
tect of the dispensation before the foundation of 



74 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the Church was laid. He was but waiting the com- 
ing of his Twelve ; and he did not attempt to call 
his Apostles until he had around him men of 
potent character and missionary zeal. Then he 
laid the foundation of the quorums of the Church — 
the Twelve, the High Priests, and the Seventies. 
Indeed it is one of the religious marvels of the 
ages to find how soon the Prophet had around him 
the men fitted for the great work before them, who 
have been chief in founding the Church at home 
and abroad, and in fulfilling the revelation given in 
1829. 

It was wise in Joseph thus to wait for the coming 
of men worthy to be his compeers. There is, in his 
life, no better example of his wondrous genius as a 
church-founder. He was truly and completely the 
Prophet of the Kingdom. His Twelve Apostles 
were but his master-builders, working out his in- 
spired plan. 

The translation of the Book of Mormon being 
nearly finished, Joseph and his scribe went to Pal- 
myra and secured the copyright, and agreed with 
Mr. Egbert Grandin to print five thousand copies 
for the sum of three thousand dollars. 

The Book of Mormon was now in press, but the 
Prophet waited not for its publication before laying 
the foundation of the Latter-day Church. Pos- 
sessed fully with the spirit of the revelations which 
had been given through him, proclaiming that a 
great and marvelous work was about to come forth 
and that the field was ripe for the harvest, he made 
known to the brethren that he had received a com- 
mandment to organize the Church. Accordingly 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 75 

they met (six in number) at the house of Mr. Peter 

Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca Co., N. Y., on Tuesday, 

the 6th day of April, 1830. The event is best told 

by Joseph. He says : 

" Having opened the meeting by solemn prayer 

to our Heavenly Father, we proceeded, according 

to previous commandment, to call on our brethren 

to know whether they accepted us as their teachers 

in the things of the kingdom of God, and whether 

they were satisfied that we should proceed and be 

organized as a church according to said command- 
is & 

ment which we had received. To these they con- 
sented by an unanimous vote. I then laid my hands 
upon Oliver Cowdery and ordained him an elder of 
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; 
after which he ordained me also to the office of an 
elder of said church. We then took bread, blessed 
it and broke it with them, also wine, blessed it and 
drank it with them. We then laid our hands on 
each individual member of the Church present, that 
they might receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and 
be confirmed members of the Church of Christ. 
The Holy Ghost was poured out upon us to a very 
great degree — some prophesied, whilst we all praised 
the Lord and rejoiced exceedingly. Whilst yet to- 
gether I received the following commandment : 

1. Behold there shall be a record kept among 
you, and in it thou shalt be called a seer, a trans- 
lator, a prophet, an apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder 
of the church through the will of God the Father, 
and the grace of your Lord Jesus Christ, being in- 
spired of the Holy Ghost to lay the foundation 
thereof, and to build it up unto the most holy faith, 



y6 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

which church was organized and established in the 
year of your Lord eighteen hundred and thirty, in 
the fourth month, and on the sixth day of the 
month, which is called April. 

2. Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give 
heed unto all his words and commandments which 
he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking 
in all holiness before me ; for his word ye shall re- 
ceive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience 
and faith ; for by doing these things the gates of 
hell shall not prevail against you ; yea, and the 
Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness 
from before you, and cause the heavens to shake 
for your good, and his name's glory. For thus saith 
the Lord God, him have I inspired to move the 
cause of Zion in mighty power for good, and his 
diligence I know, and his prayers I have heard, yea 
his weeping for Zion I have seen, and I will cause 
that he shall mourn for her no longer, for his days 
of rejoicing are come unto the remission of his sins, 
and the manifestations of my blessings upon his 
works. 

3. For, behold, I will bless all those who labor in 
my vineyard, with a mighty blessing, and they shall 
believe on his words, which are given him through 
me by the Comforter, which manifesteth that Jesus 
was crucified by sinful men for the sins of the world, 
yea, for the remission of sins unto the contrite heart 
Wherefore, it behoveth me that he should be or- 
dained by you, Oliver Cowdery, mine apostle ; this 
being an ordinance unto you, that you are an elder 
under his hand, he being the first unto you, that 
you might be an elder unto this church of Christ, 
bearing my name, and the first preacher of this 
church unto the church, and before the world, yea^ 
before the Gentiles ; yea, and thus saith the Lord 
God, lo, lo! to the Jews also. Amen. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. Jf 

* We now proceeded to call out and ordain some 
others of the brethren to different offices of the 
priesthood, according as the spirit manifested unto 
us, and after a happy time spent in witnessing and 
feeling for ourselves the powers and the blessings of 
the Holy Ghost, through the grace of God bestowed 
upon us, we dismissed with the pleasing knowledge 
that we were now individually members of, and 
acknowledged of God, 'The Church of Jesus 
Christ,' organized in accordance with command- 
ments and revelations given by him to ourselves in 
the last days, as well as according to the order of 
the church as recorded in the Xew Testament." 

The six members who composed the church at its 
organization were Hvrum Smith, Samuel H. Smith, 
David Whitmer, Peter Whitmer, jun., Oliver Cow- 
dery, and the Prophet. 

" Several persons," says Joseph, "who had attend- 
ed the above meeting and become convinced of the 
truth, came forward shortly after, and were received 
into the church; among the rest my own father and 
mother were baptized to my great joy and consola- 
tion, and, about the same time, Martin Harris and 
O. P. Rockwell." 



Organized with but six members, yet in its rise 
and progress the Latter-day Church has no parallel 
in all history. It soon became what it was styled 
by its disciples, — " the marvelous work and a won- 
der" foretold by Isaiah who, as the Saints believe, 
was shown in vision the unfolding of the very dis- 
pensation of which Joseph is the Prophet. 



78 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

The disciples were now a church. The name 
given by revelation was, " The Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter-day Saints," but outsiders from the 
first persisted in calling the disciples " Mormons." 

Acting as the Aaron of the mission, Oliver Pow- 
dery preached the first public discourse, Sunday, 
April nth, 1830, at the house of Mr. Whitmer, 
Fayette. On the same day a number of disciples 
were baptized. 

During this month the Prophet paid a visit to 
Mr. Joseph Knight, of Colesville, Broome Co., N. Y., 
at whose residence he held several meetings. It 
was here that the first miracle of the Church oc- 
curred. The story is so characteristic and striking 
that, for due effect, it must be told by the Prophet 
himself. He says : 

" Our meetings were well attended, and many 
began to pray fervently to Almighty God, that he 
would give them wisdom to understand the truth. 
Amongst those who attended our meetings regu- 
larly was Newel Knight, son of Joseph Knight. He 
and I had many serious conversations on the im- 
portant subject of man's eternal salvation ; we had 
got into a habit of praying much at our meetings, 
and Newel had said that he would try and take up 
his cross, and pray vocally during meeting; but 
when we again met together, he rather excused 
himself. I tried to prevail upon him, making use 
of the figure, supposing that he should get into a 
mudhole, would he not try to help himself out? and 
that we were willing now to help him out of the, 
mudhole. He replied, that provided he had got 
into a mudhole through carelessness, he would 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 79 

rather wait and eet out himself than have others to 
help him, and so he would wait until he should get 
into the woods by himself and there he would pray. 
Accordingly he deferred praying until next morn- 
ing, when he retired into the woods, where, accord- 
ing to his own account afterwards, he made several 
attempts to pray, but could scarcely do so, feeling 
that he had not done his duty, but that he should 
have prayed in the presence of others. He began 
to feel uneasy, and continued to feel worse, both in 
mind and body, until upon reaching his own house 
his appearance was such as to alarm his wife very 
much. He requested her to go and bring me to 
him. I went and found him suffering very much in 
his mind, and his body acted upon in a very strange 
manner. His visage and limbs distorted and twisted 
in every shape and appearance possible to imagine, 
and finally he was caught up off the floor of the 
apartment and tossed about most fearfully. His 
situation was soon made known to his neighbors 
and relatives, and in a short time as many as eight 
or nine grown persons had got together to witness 
the scene. After he had thus suffered for a time, I 
succeeded in getting hold of him by the hand, when 
almost immediately he spoke to me, and with very 
great earnestness requested of me that I should 
cast the devil out of him, saying that he knew he 
was in him, and that he also knew that I could cast 
him out. I replied, If you know that I can, it shall 
be done ; and then almost unconsciously I rebuked 
the devil,, and commanded him in the name of Jesus 
Christ to depart from him, when immediately Newel 



80 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

spoke out and said that he saw the devil leave him 
9.nd vanish from his sight. 

" The scene was now entirely changed, for as soon 
as the devil had departed from our friend, his coun- 
tenance became natural, his distortions of body 
ceased, and almost immediately the spirit of the 
Lord descended upon him, and the visions of eter- 
nity were opened to his view. He afterwards re- 
lated his experience as follows : — ■ I now began to 
feel a most pleasing sensation resting upon me, and 
immediately the visions of heaven were opened to 
my view. I felt myself attracted upward, and re- 
mained for some time enwrapt in contemplation, 
insomuch that I knew not what was going on in the 
room. By and by I felt some weight pressing upon 
my shoulder and the side of my head, which served 
to recall me to a sense of my situation, and I found 
that the spirit of the Lord had actually caught me 
up off the floor, and that my shoulder and head 
were pressing against the beams.' 

" All this was witnessed by many, to their great 
astonishment and satisfaction when they saw the 
devil thus cast out, and the power of God and his 
holy spirit thus made manifest. So soon as con- 
sciousness returned, his bodily weakness was such 
that we were obliged to lay him upon his bed and 
wait upon him for some time. As may be expected, 
such a scene as this contributed much to make be- 
lievers of those who witnessed it; and finally, the 
greater part of them became members of the 
Church." 

There is another case, connected with the above, 
of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon the dis- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. Si 

ciples, that must also be related. The Prophet says: 
" During the last week in May, the above men- 
tioned Newel Knight came to visit us at Fayette, 
and was baptized by David Whitmer. 

" On the ist of June, 1830, we held our first con- 
ference as an organized church. Our numbers were 
about thirty, besides whom many assembled with us, 
who were either believers or anxious to learn. 

" Having opened by singing and prayer, we par- 
took together of the emblems of the body and blood 
of our Lord Jesus Christ; we then proceeded to 
confirm several who had lately been baptized, after 
which we called out and ordained several to the 
various offices of the priesthood. Much exhorta- 
tion and instruction was given, and the Holy Ghost 
was poured out upon us in a miraculous manner — ■ 
many of our number prophesied, whilst others had 
the heavens opened to their view, and were so over- 
come that we had to lay them on beds or other 
convenient places. Among the rest was brother 
Newel Knight, who had to be placed on a bed, 
being unable to help himself. By his own account 
of the transaction, he could not understand why we 
should lay him on the bed, as he felt no sensibility 
of weakness. He felt his heart filled with love, with 
glory and pleasure unspeakable, and could discern 
all that was going on in the room, when, all of a 
sudden, a vision of futurity burst upon him. He 
saw there represented the great work, which through 
my instrumentality was yet to be accomplished. He 
saw heaven opened, and beheld the Lord Jesus 
Christ seated at the right hand of the Majesty on 
high, and had it made plain to his understanding 

6 



82 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

that the time would come when he would be ad- 
mitted into his presence, to enjoy his society for 
ever and ever. When their bodily strength was 
restored to these brethren, they shouted, ' Hosan- 
nahs to God and the Lamb," and rehearsed the 
glorious things which they had seen and felt, whilst 
they were yet in the spirit. 

"Such things as these were calculated to inspire 
our hearts with joy unspeakable, and fill us with 
awe and reverence for that Almighty being, by 
whose grace we had been called to be instrumental 
in bringing about for the children of men the en- 
joyment of such glorious blessings as were now 
poured out upon us. To find ourselves engaged in 
the very same order of things as observed by the 
holy apostles of old ; to realize the importance and 
solemnity of such proceedings, and to witness and 
feel with our own natural senses, the like glorious 
manifestations of the power of the priesthood ; the 
gifts and blessings of the Holy Ghost ; and the 
goodness and condescension of a merciful God, 
unto such as obey the everlasting gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, combined to create within us 
sensations of rapturous gratitude, and inspire us 
with fresh zeal and energy, in the cause of truth." 

This led to the first arrest of the Prophet, for 
preaching, baptizing, and " casting out the devil " 
from the person of Newel Knight. 

A meeting and a baptismal service having been 
appointed at Colesville on the following Sabbath, a 
mob, instigated by sectarian priests, gathered and 
destroyed the dam erected across the stream for the 
administration of the ordinance, and prevented the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 83 

service. " However," says Joseph, "early on Mon- 
day morning, we were on the alert, and, before our 
enemies were aware, we had repaired the dam and 
proceeded to baptize some thirteen persons, under 
the hands of Oliver Cowdery. Before the baptism 
was entirely finished, the mob began again to col- 
lect, and shortly after we had retired they amounted 
to about fifty men. They surrounded the house of 
Mr. Knight (to which we had retired), raging with 
anger and apparently wishful to commit violence 
upon us. Some asked us questions, others threat- 
ened us, so that we thought it wise to leave and go 
to the house of Newel Knight. 

"We had appointed a meeting for this evening, 
for the purpose of attending to the confirmation of 
those who had been the same morning baptized ; 
the time appointed had arrived, and our friends had 
nearly all collected together, when, to my surprise, I 
was visited by a constable, and arrested by him on 
a warrant, on charge of being a disorderly person, 
of setting the country in an uproar by preaching 
the Book of Mormon, etc. The constable informed 
me soon after I had been arrested, that the plan of 
those who got out the warrant was to get me into 
the hands of the mob, who were now lying in am- 
bush for me, but that he was determined to save me 
from them, as he had found me to be a different sort 
of person from what I had been represented to him. 
I soon found that he had told me the truth in this 
matter, for not far from Mr. Knight's house, the 
wagon in which we had set out was surrounded by 
the mob, who seemed only to await some signal 
from the constable; but to their great disappoint- 



84 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

ment, he gave the horse the whip and drove me out 
of their reach. Whilst driving along pretty quickly, 
one of the wagon wheels came off, which left us 
once more very nearly surrounded by them, as they 
had come on in close pursuit. However, we man- 
aged to get the wheel on again, and again left them 
behind us. He drove on to the town of .South 
Bainbridge, Chenango county, where he lodged me 
for the time being in an upper room of a tavern ; 
and in order that all might be right with himself 
and with me also, he slept during the night with his 
feet against the door and a loaded musket by his 
side, whilst I occupied a bed which was in the room, 
he having declared that if we were interrupted un- 
lawfully, that he would fight for me and defend me 
as far as in his power. 

" On the day following a court was convened for 
the purpose of investigating those charges which 
had been preferred against me. * .* * The trial 
commenced amidst a multitude of spectators, who 
in general evinced a belief that I was guilty of all 
that had been reported concerning me, and of course 
were very zealous that I should be punished accord- 
ing to my supposed crimes. Among the many wit- 
nesses called up against me, was Mr. Josiah Stoal, 
who was examined to the following effect: 

" ' Did not the prisoner, Joseph Smith, have a 
horse of you?' 

11 ' Yes.' 

" ■ Did not he go to you and tell you that an angel 
had appeared unto him and authorized him to get 
the horse from you ? ' 

u< No; he told me no such story.' 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 85 

" ' Well ; how had he the horse of you ? ' 

" ' He bought him of me as another man would 

o 

do: 

Mt Have you had your pay?' 

'"That is not your business.' 

" The question being again put, the witness re- 
plied, ' I hold his note for the price of the horse, 
which I consider as good as the pay ; for I am well 
acquainted with Joseph Smith, jun., and know him 
to be an honest man, and if he wishes, I am ready 
to let him have another horse on the same terms.' 

11 Mr. Jonathan Thompson was next called up and 
examined : 

" ' Has not the prisoner, Joseph Smith, jun., had a 
yoke of oxen of you ? ' 

" ' Yes.' 

"' Did he not obtain them of you by telling you 
that he had a revelation to the effect that he was to 
have them ? ' 

"'No; he did not mention a word of the kind 
concerning the oxen; he purchased them the same 
as another man would.' 

" Circumstances which were alleged to have taken 
place in Broome Co. were brought forward, but 
these my lawyers would not here admit of against 
me, in consequence of which my persecutors man- 
aged to detain the court until they had succeeded 
in obtaining a warrant from Broome Co., and which 
warrant they served upon me at the very moment 
in which I had been acquitted by this court. 

" The constable who served this second warrant 
upon me, had no sooner arrested me than he began 
to abuse and insult me, and so unfeeling was he with 



86 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

me, that although I had been kept all the day in 
court, without anything to eat since the morning, 
yet he hurried me off to Broome Co., a distance of 
about fifteen miles, before he allowed me any kind 
of food whatever. He took me to a tavern, and 
gathered in a number of men, who used every means 
to abuse, ridicule, and insult me. They spat upon 
me, pointed their fingers at me, saying, ' Prophesy, 
prophesy ! ' And thus did they imitate those who 
crucified the Saviour of mankind, not knowing what 
they did. We were at this time noi: far distant 
from my own house. I wished to be allowed the 
privilege of spending the night with my wife at 
home, offering any wished for security for my ap- 
pearance ; but this was denied me. I applied for 
something to eat. The constable ordered me some 
crusts of bread and water, which was the only fare 
I that night received. At length we retired to bed; 
the constable made me lie next the wall; he then 
laid himself down by me and put his arm around 
me, and upon my moving in the least would clench 
me fast, fearing that I intended to escape from him ; 
and in this (not very agreeable) manner did we pass 
the night. Next day I was brought before the mag- 
istrate's court, of Colesville, Broome Co., and put 
upon my trial. My former faithful friends and 
lawyers were again at my side ; my former perse- 
cutors were arrayed against me. Many witnesses 
were again called forward and examined, some of 
whom swore to the most palpable falsehoods, and 
like to the false witnesses which had appeared 
against me the day previous, they contradicted 
themselves so plainly that the court would not 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 87 

admit their testimony. Others were called, who 
showed by their zeal that they were willing enough 
to prove something against me, but all they could 
do was to tell some things which somebody else had 
told them. In this frivolous and vexatious manner 
did they proceed for some time, when finally Newel 
Knight was called up and examined by lawyer Sey- 
mour, who had been especially sent for on this 
occasion. One lawyer Burch, also, was on the side 
of the persecution, but Mr. Seymour seemed to be 
a more zealous Presbyterian, and appeared very 
anxious and determined that the people should not 
be deluded by any one professing the power of god- 
liness, and not ' denying the power thereof.' 

" So soon as Mr. Knight had been sworn, Mr. 
Seymour proceeded to interrogate him as follows: 

"'Did the prisoner, Joseph Smith, jun., cast the 
devil out of you ? ' 

"'No, sir.' 

" ' Why, have not you had the devil cast out of 
you?' 

"' Yes, sir.' 

"'And had not Joe Smith some hand in its being 
done ?' 

"' Yes, sir.' 

" ' And did not he cast him out of you ? ' 

" ' No, sir. It was done by the power of God, and 
Joseph Smith was the instrument in the hands of 
God on the occasion. He commanded him out of 
me in the name of Jesus Christ.' 

" ' And are you sure that it was the devil ? ' 

"'Yes, sir.' 

" ' Did you see him, after he was cast out of you ?' 



88 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

"' Yes, sir; I saw him.' 

" * Pray, what did he look like?' (Here one of 
my lawyers informed the witness that he need not 
answer the question). The witness replied, ' I be- 
lieve I need not answer your last question, but I 
will do it provided I be allowed to ask you one 
question first, and you answer me, namely: Do you, 
Mr. Seymour, understand the things of the spirit?' 

Ui No/ answered Mr. Seymour, ' I do not pretend 
to such big things.' 

M 'Well, then,' replied Knight, ( it would be of no 
use to tell you what the devil looked like, for it was 
a spiritual sight, and spiritually discerned ; and of 
course you would not understand it were I to tell 
you of it' The lawyer dropped his head, whilst 
the loud laugh of the audience proclaimed his dis- 
comfiture. 

" Mr. Seymour now addressed the court, and in a 
long and violent harangue endeavored to blacken 
my character and bring me in guilty of the charges 
which had been brought against me. Among other 
things, he brought up the story of my having been 
a money digger; and in this manner proceeded, in 
hopes to influence the court and the people against 
me. 

" My counsel, who, by the way, were a couple of 
honest, well informed farmers, and not lawyers by 
profession, followed in my behalf. They held forth 
in true colors the nature of the prosecution, the 
malignity of intention, and the apparent disposition 
to persecute their client, rather than to afford him 
justice. They took up the different arguments 
which had been brought by the lawyers for the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 89 

prosecution, and having shown their utter futility 
and misapplication, then proceeded to scrutinize the 
evidence which had been adduced, and each in his 
turn thanked God that he had been engaged in so 
eood a cause as that of defending a man whose 
character stood so well the test of such a strict 
investigation. In fact, these men, although not 
regular lawyers, were upon this occasion able to put 
to silence their opponents, and convince the court 
that I was innocent. They spoke like men inspired 
of God, whilst those who were arraved against me 
trembled under the sound of their voices, and 
quailed before them. 

"The majority of the assembled multitude had 
now begun to find that nothing could be sustained 
against me : even the constable who arrested me, 
and treated me so badly, now came and apologized 
to me, and asked mv forgiveness of his behavior 
towards me; and so far was he changed that he in- 
formed me that the mob were determined that if the 
court acquitted me they would have me, and rail- 
ride me and tar and feather me ; and further, that 
he was willing to favor me and lead me out in safety 
by a private way. 

" The court finding the charges against me not 
sustained, I was accordingly acquitted, to the great 
satisfaction of my friends and vexation of my ene- 
mies, who were still determined upon molesting me; 
but through the instrumentality of my new friend 
the constable, I was enabled to escape them and 
make my way home in safety. 

"After a few days, however, I again returned to 
Colesville, in company with Oliver Cowdery, for 



90 LIFE. OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the purpose of confirming those whom we had thus 
been forced to abandon for a time. We had scarcely 
arrived at Mr. Knight's, when the mob was seen 
collecting together to oppose us, and we considered 
it wisdom to leave for home, which we did, without 
even waiting for any refreshments. Our enemies 
pursued us, and it was oftentimes as much as we 
could do to elude them. However, we managed to 
get home after having traveled all night, except a 
short time during which we were forced to rest our- 
selves under a large ' tree by the wayside, sleeping 
and watching alternately." 

The above circumstantial narrative is of historic 
value, to show the commencement of the persecu- 
tions against the saints, and upon what ridiculous 
pretenses the Prophet was arrested. It was but the 
beginning of the end ; for, before his martyrdom, he 
was arrested nearly fifty times. 

But the tribulations of the infant church were 
made tolerable by the revelations and manifesta- 
tions of the power of God. It was at this time that 
the great vision of Moses was revealed to the 
Prophet, which shall be presented to the reader 
hereafter, with other revelations and visions illus- 
trating the glorious views and themes of Joseph, 
and the epic sweep of his dispensation. 

The history of those early days of the church is 
simply the story of its rise, of the persecutions, and 
the pentecosts among the disciples, which compen- 
sated them for taking up their cross; but the details 
are too voluminous, and must necessarily in great 
part be passed over. 

It was also about this time that spiritual mani- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 9I 

festations from the opposing power began, estab- 
lishing the experience among the saints that there 
were still, as in the past ages, the two spiritual 
powers in warfare. The method of communication 
was through the " Seer Stone," and many were be- 
guiled thereby, among them some of the witnesses 
of the Book of Mormon. The narrative of Joseph 
continues: 

" Mr. Whitmer having heard of the persecutions 
which had been gotten up against us at Harmony, 
Pa., had invited us to go and live with him ; and 
during the last week of August we arrived at Fay- 
ette, amidst the congratulations of our brethren and 
friends. To our great grief, however, we soon found 
that Satan had been lying in wait to deceive, and 
seeking whom he might devour. Brother Hyrum 
Page had in his possession a certain stone, by which 
he had obtained certain revelations, concerning the 
upbuilding of Zion, the order of the church, etc., 
all of which were entirely at variance with the order 
of God's house, as laid down in the New Testa- 
ment, as well as our late revelations. As a confer- 
ence meeting had been appointed for the first day 
of September, I thought it wisdom not to do much 
more than to converse with the brethren on the 
subject, until the conference should meet. Finding, 
however, that many (especially the Whitmer family 
and Oliver Cowdery) were believing much in the 
things set forth by this stone, we thought best to 
inquire of the Lord, concerning so important a mat- 
ter, and before conference convened, we received the 
following: 



92 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROrHET. 

i. Behold, I say unto thee, Oliver, that it shall be 
given unto thee, that thou shalt be heard by the 
church in all things whatsoever thou shalt teach 
them by the Comforter, concerning the revelations 
and commandment which I have given. 

2. But, behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, no 
one shall be appointed to receive commandments 
and revelations in this church, excepting my servant 
Joseph Smith, jun., for he receiveth them even as 
Moses ; and thou shalt be obedient unto the things 
which I shall give unto him, even as Aaron, to de- 
clare faithfully the commandments and the revela- 
tions, with power and authority unto the church. 
And if thou art led at any time by the Comforter, 
to speak or teach, or at all times by the way of com- 
mandment unto the church, thou mayest do it. But 
thou shalt not write by way of commandment, but 
by wisdom ; and thou shalt not command him who 
is at thy head, and at the head of the church, for I 
have given him the keys of the mysteries, and the 
revelations which are sealed, until I shall appoint 
unto them another in his stead. 

3. And now, behold, I say unto you, that you 
shall go unto the Lamanites and preach my gospel 
unto them ; and inasmuch as they receive thy teach- 
ings, thou shalt cause my church to be established 
among them, and thou shalt have revelations, but 
write them not by way of commandment. And 
now, behold, I say unto you, that it is not revealed, 
and no man knoweth where the city shall be built, 
bat it shall be given hereafter. Behold, I say unto 
you, that it shall be on the borders by the Laman- 
ites. 

4. Thou shalt not leave this place until after the 
conference, and my servant Joseph shall be appoint- 
ed to preside over the conference by the voice of it, 
and what he saith to thee thou shalt tell. And 
again, thou shalt take thy brother, Hiram Page, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 93 

between him and thee alone, and tell him that those 
things which he hath written from that stone, are 
not of me, and that Satan deceiveth him ; for, be- 
hold, these things have not been appointed unto 
him, neither shall any thing be appointed unto any 
of this church contrary to the church covenants, for 
all things must be done in order, and by common 
consent in the church, by the prayer of faith. 

5. And thou shalt assist to settle all these things 
according to the covenants of the church before 
thou shalt take thy journey among the Lamanites. 
And it shall be given thee from the time thou shalt 
go. until the time thou shalt return, what thou shalt 
do. And thou must open thy mouth at all times, 
declaring my gospel with the sound of rejoicing. 
Amen. 

"At length our conference assembled; the sub- 
ject of the stone was discussed, and after consider- 
able investigation, brother Page, as well as the whole 
church, who were present, renounced the said stone 
and all things connected therewith, much to our 
mutual satisfaction and happiness. 

" We now partook of the sacrament, confirmed 
and ordained many, and attended to a great variety 
of church business on that and the following day, 
during which time we had much of the power of 
God manifested amongst us ; the Holv Ghost came 
upon us, and filled us with joy unspeakable; and 
peace and faith, and hope and charity abounded in 
our midst." 

Thus was it settled that Joseph alone was the 
Moses of the Church ; even Oliver Cowdery dared 
not presume to be more than his Aaron. 



CHAPTER X. 

AN HISTORICAL DIGRESSION PARLEY P. PRATT, SID- 
NEY RIGDON AND ORSON PRATT BRIEF SKETCH 

OF THE PRATTS THEIR EARLY AND IMPORTANT 

SERVICES TO THE CHURCH PARLEY'S NARRA- 
TIVE — HIS DESCRIPTION OF JOSEPH RESUMP- 
TION of Joseph's narrative — the st. paul 

OF MORMONDOM. 

For a rounded comprehension of the rise of the 
latter-day work, we must here diverge from the 
direct historic track of the Church, under Joseph, to 
trace a kindred and preparatory religious movement 
in Ohio, connected with the history and ministry of 
Parley P. Pratt and Sidney Rigdon, prior to their 
greater career as Mormon Apostles. 

Parley P. Pratt, who was the first of these relig- 
ious chieftains to embrace Mormonism, was a man 
born to an apostolic mission. He was endowed 
with the nature and gifts of a prophet. This of 
itself explains much of his early career, and sug- 
gests the providential fitness of the man to the 
greater apostleship of his after life. 

As much of the integrity of Mormonism rests 
with the Pratts (Parley and Orson), it may be well 
to make brief mention of their origin, to show how 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 95 

naturally they fell into their places as two of the 
chief apostles of the latter days. Not always, it 
must be confessed, do we rind the sons of the 
prophets among the prophets, but when they are 
thus found there seems in the circumstance a certain 
predestined fitness of the instrument to the divine 
purpose. 

The brothers Parley and Orson Pratt are descend- 
ants of Lieut. William and Elizabeth Pratt, who, with 
a brother John Pratt, were among the "Pilgrim 
Fathers." Thev came from Essex Co., England, 
about the year 1633, and were found among the first 
settlers of Hartford, Conn., in the year 1639. (^They 
are supposed to have accompanied the Rev. Thomas 
Hooker and his congregation from Xewtown, — now 
Cambridge, — Mass., through a dense wilderness, 
inhabited onlv bv savages and wild beasts, and 
became the founders of the colony of Hartford, 
Conn., in June, 1636, and thence to Saybrook about 
the year 1645 

The Mormon career of the brothers Parley and 
Orson answers well to this record of their I ;'rim 
ancestors. At the age of nineteen Parley migrated 
from the State of New York to Ohio. Taking leave 
of his friends at the old I mestead, he started west- 
ward in October, 1826. He paid out most of his 
money in Rochester, N. Y., for a small pocket Bible, 
and continued his journey as far as Buffalo, X. Y., 
where he engaged to work his passage to Detroit. 
He traveled until he came to a small settlement 
about thirty miles west of Cleveland. There he 
cleared a farm from forest land, and the following 
year returned for a season to the old home in Xew 



g6 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

York; thence returning to his farm in Ohio, with a 
young wife, with whom he purposed to there estab- 
lish a permanent home. 

Eighteen months were passed by the pious young 
couple in their wilderness settlement, when the Rev. 
Sidney Rigdon, a religious reformer of those times, 
came into the neighborhood. His preaching so 
attracted young Parley that he united with him as 
a sort of apostolic compeer. Under Mr. Rigdon 
the new disciples organized a society. 

"At the commencement of 1830," says Parley, " I 
felt drawn out in an extraordinary manner to search 
the prophets, and to pray for an understanding of 
the same. My prayers were soon answered, even 
beyond my expectations ; the prophecies of the holy 
prophets were opened to my view; I began to un- 
derstand the things which were coming on the earth 
— the restoration of Israel, the coming of the Mes- 
siah, and the .glory that should follow. I was so 
astonished at the darkness of myself and mankind 
on these subjects that I could exclaim with the 
prophet, surely, ' Darkness covers the earth, and 
gross darkness the people.'" 

Impelled by the spirit, he soon resolved on a 
ministerial mission, on which he started, with his 
wife, in August, 1830, forsaking their home for the 
gospel's sake. Here is the sequel, in his own words: 

" Arriving at Rochester, I informed my wife that, 
notwithstanding our passage being paid through the 
whole distance, I must leave the boat, and her to 
pursue her passage to our friends, while I would 
stop awhile in this region. Why, I did not know; ' 
but so it was plainly manifested by the spirit to me. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 97 

•.*,*..! took leave of her and the boat early in 
the morning, just at the dawn of day, and walked 
ten miles into the country, where I stopped to 
breakfast with a Mr. Wells. I proposed to preach 
in the evening. Mr. Wells readily accomoanied me 
through the neighborhood to circulate the appoint- 
ment. We visited an old Baptist deacon by the 
name of Hamlin. After hearing of our appoint- 
ment, he began to tell of a very strange book in his 
possession, which had just been published. * * * 
He promised me the perusal of it. Next morning 
I called at his house, where, for the first time, my 
eyes beheld the Book of Mormon. * * * As I 
read, the spirit of the Lord was upon me, and I 
knew and comprehended that the book was true. 
*,*•*•;• I soon determined to see the young man 
who had been the instrument of its discovery and 
translation. I accordingly visited the village of 
Palmyra, and enquired for the residence of Mr. 
Joseph Smith. I found it some two or three miles 
from the village.'* 

Approaching the house he overtook a gentleman > 
who turned out to be Hyrum Smith, and was in- 
formed by him that Joseph was then in Pennsylva- 
nia. Hyrum, however, welcomed him into the 
house, and they spent the night together, convers- 
ing upon the book and kindred topics. In the 
morning he was presented with a copy of the Book 
of Mormon, and then hastened on to fill an ap- 
pointment for the evening, thirty miles away. 

After a short ministerial tour Parley returned to 
Hyrum Smith's residence, and demanded baptism 
at his hands. He continues : 

7 



gS LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" I tarried with him one night, and the next day 
we walked some twenty-five miles to the residence 
of Mr. Whitmer, in Seneca Co. Here we arrived 
in the evening, and found a most welcome recep- 
tion. * * * The next day I was baptized by 
Oliver Cowdery, in Seneca Lake. A meeting was 
held the same evening, and after singing and prayer 
Elder Cowdery and others proceeded to lay their 
hands upon my head in the name of Jesus, for the 
gift of the Holy Ghost. After which I was or- 
dained to the office of an elder in the Church, 
which included authority to preach, baptize, admin- 
ister the sacrament, administer the Holy Spirit, by 
the laying on of hands in the name of Jesus Christ, 
and to take the lead of meetings of worship." 

He now commenced his ministry in earnest, as a 
Mormon elder, and soon thereafter baptized his 
brother Orson. Again visiting the birthplace of 
Mormonism, he says: 

"On our arrival, we found that brother Joseph 
Smith had returned to his father's residence in 
Manchester, near Palmyra, and here I had the 
pleasure of seeing him for the first time." 

Here may properly be given Parley's description 
of Joseph, which, as it seems to have been written 
to portray him at that time, will be read with in- 
terest : 

" President Joseph Smith was in person tall and 
well built, strong and active ; of a light complexion, 
light hair, blue eyes, very little beard, and of an 
expression peculiar to himself, on which the eye 
naturally rested with interest, and was never weary 
of beholding. His countenance was ever mild, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 99 

affable, beaming with intelligence and benevolence ; 
mingled with a look of interest and an unconscious 
smile, or cheerfulness, and entirely free from all 
restraint or affectation of gravity; and there was 
something connected with the serene and steady 
penetrating glance of his eye, as if he would pene- 
trate the deepest abyss of the human heart, gaze 
into eternity, penetrate the heavens, and compre- 
hend all worlds. 

"He possessed a noble boldness and independ- 
ence of character; his manner was easy and famil- 
iar; his rebuke terrible as the lion; his benevolence 
unbounded as the ocean ; his intelligence universal, 
and his language abounding in original eloquence 
peculiar to himself — not polished — not studied — not 
smoothed and softened by education and refined by 
art ; but flowing forth in its own native simplicity, 
and profusely abounding in variety of subject and 
manner. He interested and edified, while, at the 
same time, he amused and entertained his audience; 
and none listened to him that were ever weary with 
his discourse. I have even known him to retain a 
congregation of willing and anxious listeners for 
many hours together, in the midst of cold or sun- 
shine, rain or wind, while they were laughing at one 
moment and weeping the next. Even his most 
bitter enemies were generally overcome, if he could 
once get their ears." 

This brings up the connection with Joseph's own 
narrative in the preceding chapter, as it is seen that 
just after the first conference of the church, therein 
noted, a revelation is given to Parley P. Pratt and 
Ziba Peterson, sending them westward on a mission 



IOO LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

to the " Lamanites." [The Indians]. Here is the 
historic link as supplied by Parley: 

"It was now October, 1830. A revelation had 
been given through the mouth of this Prophet, seer, 
and translator, in which elders Oliver Cowdery, 
Peter Whitmer, Ziba Peterson and myself were 
appointed to go into the wilderness, through the 
western States, and to the Indian Territory. Mak- 
ing arrangements for my wife in the family of the 
Whitmer's, we took leave of our friends and the 
church late in October, and started on foot. 

" After traveling for some days we called on an 
Indian nation at or near Buffalo, and spent part of 
the day with them, instructing them in the knowl- 
edge of the record' of their forefathers. We were 
kindly received, and much interest was manifested 
by them on hearing this news. -We made a present 
of two copies of the Book of Mormon to certain of 
them who could read, and repaired to Buffalo. 
Thence we continued our journey, for about two 
hundred miles, and at length called on Mr. Rigdon, 
my former friend and instructor, in the Reformed 
Baptist society. He received us cordially and en- 
tertained us with hospitality. 

" We soon presented him with a Book of Mor- 
mon, and related to him the history of the same. 
He was much interested, and promised a thorough 
perusal of the book. We tarried in this region for 
some time, and devoted our time to the ministry 
and visiting from house to house. 

" At length Mr. Rigdon and many others became 
convinced that they had no authority to minister in 
the ordinances of God, and that they had not been 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. IOI 

legally baptized and ordained. They, therefore, 
came forward and were baptized by us, and re- 
ceived the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying 
on of hands, and prayer in the name of Jesus 
Christ. 

" The news of our coming was soon noised abroad, 
and the news of the discovery of the Book of Mor- 
mon, and the marvelous events connected with it. 
The interest and excitement now became general in 
Kirtland, and in all the region round about. The 
people thronged us night and day, insomuch that 
we had no time for rest or retirement. Meetings 
were convened in different neighborhoods, and mul- 
titudes came together soliciting our attendance, 
while thousands flocked about us daily; some to 
be taught, some for curiosity, some to obey the 
gospel, and some to dispute or resist it. 

"In two or three weeks from our arrival in the 
neighborhood with the news, we had baptized one 
hundred and twenty-seven souls, and this number 
soon increased to one thousand. The disciples 
were filled with joy and gladness, while rage and 
lying was abundantly manifested by gainsayers; faith 
was strong, joy was great, and persecution heavy. 

" We proceeded to ordain Sidney Rigdon, Isaac 
Morley, John Murdock, Lyman Wight, Edward 
Partridge and many others to the ministry ; and, 
leaving them to take care of the churches and to 
minister the gospel, we took leave of the saints and 
continued our journey." 

The Prophet himself has sketched the history of 
Sidney Rigdon up to this point, which establishes 
the character of his mission as that of a John the 



102 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Baptist to the Latter-day Work. The following is 
a digest of the same : 

Sidney S. Rigdon was born in St. Clair township, 
Alleghany Co., Pa., on the 19th of Feb. 1793. In 
his twenty-fifth year he connected himself with a 
society, which in that country was called Regular 
Baptists. In March, 1819, he received a license to 
preach in that society, and in the following May he 
left Pennsylvania and went to Trumbull Co., Ohio, 
where he was subsequently married. In 1821 he 
was called to the pastoral charge of the First Bap- 
tist church of Pittsburg, which invitation he accepted 
early in the following year, and soon became an 
effective and popular minister. After laboring in 
that capacity for two and a half years, he withdrew 
from the society, because of a settled conviction 
that the doctrines maintained by it were not alto- 
gether in accordance with the Scriptures. From 
the same society shortly afterward separated Alex- 
ander Campbell, who subsequently became distin- 
guished as the founder of the " Campbellites," or 
M Disciples;" but it is proper to here state that Mr. 
Rigdon was his earnest coadjutor in the inception 
of that work, and, quite as much as Mr. Campbell, 
was its founder. Having now retired from the min- 
istry, Mr. Rigdon engaged as a day laborer in a 
tannery, which employment he followed for two 
years, after which he removed to Bainbridge, 
Geauga Co., Ohio, where the people solicited him 
to preach. He complied with their request, and 
from that time forward devoted himself to the min- 
istry, confining himself, however, to no creed, but 
holding up the Bible as the rule of faith, and advo- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 103 

eating the doctrines of repentance and baptism for 
the remission of sins. The doctrines which he 
advanced being new, public attention was awakened, 
and great excitement prevailed throughout that 
whole section of country, and frequently the con- 
gregations which he addressed were so large that it 
was impossible to make himself heard by all. His 
fame as an orator and deep reasoner in the Scrip- 
tures spread far and wide, and he soon gained a 
popularity and an elevation which has fallen to the 
lot of but few. Soon numbers felt the importance 
of obeying that form of doctrine which had been 
delivered to them. He accordingly commenced to 
baptize, and like John of old, there flocked to him 
people from all the region round about, to be bap- 
tized of him. Nor was this desire confined to indi- 
viduals or families, but whole societies threw away 
their creeds and articles of faith, and became obe- 
dient to the faith he promulgated, and he soon had 
large and flourishing societies throughout that whole 
region of country. It is proper to note that in the 
meantime he had become a resident of the town of 
Mentor, some thirty miles distant from Bainbridge, 
in the same county. In the Fall of 1830, elders 
Parley P. Pratt, Ziba Peterson, Oliver Cowdery and 
Peter Whitmer called at that town, on their way to 
Missouri, testifying to the truth of the Book of 
Mormon, and that the Lord had raised up a prophet, 
and restored the priesthood. The first house at 
which they called was elder Rigdon's. He was at 
first quite incredulous about the Book of Mormon, 
which until then he had never heard of nor seen, 
but expressed a willingness to read and investigate. 



104 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

After considering the Book for two weeks, praying 
to the Lord for direction, he was fully convinced of 
the truth of the work by a revelation from Jesus 
Christ, which was made known to him in a remark- 
able manner, so that he could exclaim, " flesh and 
blood hath n'ot revealed it unto me, but my father 
which is in heaven." 

The above brief history has an extraordinary 
relation to the rise and progress of the Church of 
Latter-day Saints. The Church which Joseph, 
under God, founded absorbed the churches which 
Sidney founded, and Kirtland soon became the 
Zion where the Prophet lifted his standard for the 
gathering of the Saints. 

Immediately after his baptism, Sidney Rigdon, 
accompanied by Edward Partridge, paid a visit to 
the Prophet, "to enquire of the Lord." The fol- 
lowing is the "word" received, and is itself a page 
of quite suggestive history : 

Listen to the voice of the Lord your God, even 
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, whose 
course is one eternal round, the same to-day as 
yesterday, and forever. I am Jesus Christ, the Son 
of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, 
even as many as will believe on my name, that they 
may become the sons of God, even one in me as I 
am in the Father, as the Father is one in me, that 
we may be one. 

Behold, verily, verily, I say unto my servant 
Sidney, I have looked upon thee and thy works. I 
have heard thy prayers, and prepared thee for a 
greater work. Thou art blessed, for thou shalt do , 
great things. Behold thou wast sent forth, even as 
John, to prepare the way before me, and before 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 105 

Elijah which should come, and thou knewest it not. 
Thou didst baptize by water unto repentance, but 
they received not the Holy Ghost; but now I give 
unto thee a commandment, that thou shalt baptize 
by water, and they shall receive the Holy Ghost by 
the laying on of the hands, even as the apostles of 
old. 

And it shall come to pass that there shall be a 
great work in the land, even among the Gentiles, 
for their folly and their abominations shall be made 
manifest in the eyes of all people ; for I am God, 
and* mine arm is not shortened; and I will show 
miracles, signs, and wonders, unto all those who be- 
lieve on my name. And whoso shall ask it in my 
name in faith, they shall cast out devils; they shall 
heal the sick; they shall cause the blind to receive 
their sight, and the deaf to hear, and the dumb to 
speak, anj the lame to walk; and the time speedily 
cometh tnat great things are to be shown forth unto 
the children of men ; but without faith shall not 
anything be shown forth except desolations upon 
.Babylon, the same which has made all nations drink 
of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And 
there are none that doeth good, except those who 
are ready to receive the fullness of my gospel which 
I have sent forth unto this generation. 

Wherefore, I have called upon the weak tilings of 
the world, those who are unlearned and despised, to 
thresh the nations by the power of my Spirit: and 
their arm shall be my arm, and I will be their shield 
and their buckler ; and I will gird up their loins, and 
they shall fight manfully for me; and their enemies 
shall be under their feet; and I will let fall the sword 
in their behalf, and by the fire of mine indignation 
will I preserve them. And the poor and the meek 
shall have the gospel preached unto them, and they 
shall be looking forth for the time of my coming, 
for it is nigh at hand: and they shall learn the para- 



106 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

ble of the fig-tree, for even now already summer 
is nigh, and I have sent forth the fullness of my 
gospel by the hand of my servant Joseph; and in 
weakness have I blessed him, and I have given unto 
him the keys of the mystery of those things which 
have been sealed, even things which were from the 
foundation of the world, and the things which shall 
come from this time until the time of my coming, if 
he abide in me, and if not, another will I plant in 
his stead. 

Wherefore, watch over him that his faith fail not, 
and it shall he given by the Comforter, the Holy 
Ghost, that knoweth all things: and a command- 
ment I give unto thee, that thou shalt write for him; 
and the scriptures shall be given, even as they are 
in mine own bosom, to the salvation of mine own 
elect ; for they will hear my voice, and shall see me, 
and shall not be asleep, and shall abide the day of 
my coming, for they shall be purified, even as I am 
pure. And now I say unto you, tarry with him, and 
he shall journey with you ; forsake him not, and 
surely these things shall be fulfilled. And inasmuch 
as ye do not write, behold, it shall be given unto 
him to prophesy: and thou shalt preach my gos- 
pel and call on the holy prophets to prove his words, 
as they shall be given him. 

Keep all the commandments and covenants by 
which ye are bound; and I will cause the heavens 
to shake for your good, and Satan shall tremble and 
Zion shall rejoice upon the hills and flourish, and 
Israel shall be saved in mine own due time. And 
by the keys which I have given shall they be led, 
and no more be confounded at all. Lift up your 
hearts and be glad, your redemption drawelh nigh. 
Fear not, little flock, the kingdom is yours until I 
come. Behold I come quickly. Even so. Amen. 

And just previously another had come, who;:: 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. IO7 

subsequent evangelical career has entitled him to a 
volume in the "Acts of the Modern Apostles." 
Joseph says : 

"In the forepart of November [1830], Orson 
Pratt, a young man of 19 years, who had been bap- 
tized at the first preaching of his brother Parley P. 
Pratt, Sept. 19th (his birthday), about six weeks 
previously, in Canaan, N. Y., came to enquire of the 
Lord what his duty was, and received the following 
answer : 

My son Orson, hearken and hear and behold what 
I, the Lord God, shall say unto you, even Jesus 
Christ your Redeemer, the light and the life of the 
world ; a light which shineth in darkness and the 
darkness comprehendeth it not ; who so loved the 
world that he gave his own life, that as many as 
would believe might become the sons of God : 
wherefore you are my son, and blessed are you be- 
cause you have believed ; and more blessed are you 
because you are called of me to preach my gospel, 
to lift up your voice as with the sound of a trump, 
both long and loud, and cry repentance unto a 
crooked and perverse generation, preparing the way 
of the Lord for his second coming ; for behold, 
verily, verily, I say unto you, the time is soon at 
hand, that I shall come in a cloud with power and 
great glory, and it shall be a great day at the time 
of my coming, for all nations shall tremble. 

But before that great day shall come, the sun 
shall be darkened, and the moon be turned into 
blood, and the stars shall refuse their shining, and 
some shall fall, and great destructions await the 
wicked : wherefore lift up your voice and spare not, 
for the Lord God hath spoken. Therefore proph- 
esy, and it shall be given by the power of the Holy 
Ghost; and if you are faithful, behold, I am with 



108 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

you until I come: and verily, verily, I say unto you, 
I come quickly. I am your Lord and your Re- 
deemer. Even so. Amen. 



Not more important was the coming of Sidney 
Rigdon than that of Parley and Orson Pratt. Un- 
doubtedly the splendor of Sidney's career gave to 
the Mormon Church a substantial dignity, but 
Parley and Orson Pratt became in some respects 
the two most potent apostles of the dispensation. 
Their converts, since that time, have been thou- 
sands. In fact it is not too much to say that, by 
their preaching and writings, directly and indirectly, 
tens of thousands have been brought into the faith. 
Parley's " Voice of Warning" was almost as a New 
Testament to the Church. His inspired views and 
nervous epigramic style fascinated all who read his 
book. His Hebraic pen made the ancient prophets 
live again in the divine action of our own times ; 
while his learned brother Orson has been as the 
veritable St. Paul of the Latter Days. 

But Joseph was still the prophet of the dispensa- 
tion. It was he who gave the epic subject, — so vast 
that his ablest apostles were well nigh lost in its 
mighty sweep; it was he who furnished the marvel- 
ous themes upon which they wrought, each his 
finest work; it was he who inspired the whole with 
a prophet's genius. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE "LOST BOOKS" OF SCRIPTURE JOSEPH AS A 

TRANSLATOR CONFERENCE AT FAYETTE IM- 
PORTANT REVELATION THEN GIVEN KIRTLAND 

THE FIRST "STAKE" OF ZION ORGANIZATION OF 

THE MORMON BISHOPRIC REVELATIONS AND IL- 
LUMINATIONS GREAT VISION OF JOSEPH AND 

SIDNEY GRAND SWEEP OF THE MORMON THE- 
OLOGY. 

"It may be well to observe here," says Joseph, in 
his journal, " that the Lord creatlv encouraged and 
strengthened the faith of his little flock, bv eivincf 
some more extended information upon the Scrip- 
tures, a translation of which had already com- 
menced. 

" Much conjecture and conversation frequently 
occurred among" the saints, concerning the books 
mentioned and referred to in various places in the 
Old and New Testaments, which were now nowhere 
to be found. The common remark was that they 
were lost books ; but it seems the apostolic churches 
had some of those writings, as Jude mentions or 
quotes the prophecy of Enoch, the seventh from 
Adam. To the joy of the flock, which in all, from 



IIO LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Colesville to Canandaigua, N.Y., numbered about 
seventy members, did the Lord reveal the following 
doings of olden times, from the prophecy of Enoch". 

Then came the grand revelation of the " Book of 
Enoch," which in the sacred literature of the Church 
has been classed with the " Book of Covenants" and 
the vision of Moses on the Mount. These books 
are familiar to the saints, but for the benefit of the 
general reader a digest of them will be given here- 
after. 

The view of Joseph most pertinent at this period 
of his work is that of a re-translator of the Hebrew 
Bible and New Testament, giving "keys" and new 
renderings to both, by the spirit of revelation, and 
supplying "lost books" when necessary to the un- 
folding of the mysteries of God to his saints. Thus 
did he make them familiar with much of the history 
of the ancients — Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham 
and Moses ; likewise the history of the early peoples 
of the American Continent, with their patriarchs 
and prophets. 

" The year opened," says the record, " with a pros- 
pect great and glorious for the welfare of the king- 
dom ; for on the 2d of Jan., 1831, a conference was 
held in the town of Fayette, N. Y., at which was 
received the following revelation : 

Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, 
the great I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning 
and the end, the same which looked upon the wide 
expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of 
heaven, before the world was made, the same which 
knoweth all things, for all things are present before 
mine eyes : I am the same which spake and the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHETc III 

world was made, and all things came by me; I am 
the same which have taken the Zion of Enoch into 
mine own bosom ; and verily I say, even as many as 
have believed on my name, for I am Christ, and in 
mine own name, by the virtue of the blood which I 
have spilt, have I pleaded before the Father for 
them: but behold, the residue of the wicked have I 
kept in chains of darkness until the judgment of the 
great day, which shall come at the end of the earth ; 
and even so will I cause the wicked to be kept, that 
will not hear my voice but harden their hearts, and 
woe, woe, woe, is their doom. 

But behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that 
mine eyes are upon you ; I am in your midst, and 
ye cannot see me, but the day soon cometh that ye 
shall see me and know that I am : for the veil of 
darkness shall soon be rent, and he that is not puri- 
fied shall not abide the day; wherefore, gird up your 
loins and be prepared. Behold, the kingdom is 

yours, and the enemy shall not overcome. 

* ■* * # # * 

And that ye might escape the power of the enemy, 
and be gathered unto me a righteous people, without 
spot and blameless: wherefore, for this cause I gave 
unto you the commandment that ye should go to 
the Ohio ; and there I will give unto you my law; 
and there you shall be endowed with power from on 
high; and from thence, whomsoever I will, shall go 
forth among all nations, and it shall be told them 
what they shall do ; for I have a great work laid up 
in store, for Israel shall be saved, and I will lead 
them whithersoever I will, and no power shall stay 
my hand. 



Much more was communicated in this revelation, 
but the historical point is that the Church was now 
directed to remove to Kirtland, Ohio, which became 



112 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

a grand "stake" of Zion, where the first temple of 
the Lord was reared by the saints in this dispen- 
sation. 

"In the latter part of January," continues the 
Prophet, "in company with brothers Sidney Rigdon 
and Edward Partridge, I started with my wife for 
Kirtland, Ohio, where we arrived about the ist of 
Feb., and were kindly received and welcomed into 
the house of brother N. K. Whitney. My wife and 
I lived in the family of brother Whitney several 
weeks, and received every kindness, and attention 
which could be expected, and especially from sister 
Whitney. The branch of the Church in this part of 
the Lord's vineyard, which had increased to nearly 
one hundred members, were striving to do the will 
of God, so far as they knew it, though some strange 
notions and false spirits had crept in among them 
With a little caution and some wisdom, I soon as- 
sisted the brethren and sisters to overcome them." 

It now became necessary to effect the temporal 
organization of the saints. The " gathering" of a 
Latter-day Israel had commenced. The saints were 
fast becoming a people. 

The great organizing genius of Joseph was called 
into action, and the Bishopric which has since grown 
into such magnitude — controlling both the social 
and ecclesiastical organizations of the people — 
sprang, as in a moment, into vigorous life. Its 
organization commenced with a revelation, as seen 
from the following passages: 

* * -* # And again, I have called my servant 
Edward Partridge, and give a commandment, that 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 113 

ne should be appointed by the voice of the church, 
and ordained a bishop unto the church, to leave his 
merchandise and to spend all his time in the labors 
of the church ; to see to all things as it shall be 
appointed unto him, in my laws in the day that I 
shall give them. And this because his heart is pure 
before me, for he is like unto Nathaniel of old, in 
whom there is no guile. 

Just here Joseph also supplements a brief bio- 
graphical sketch of the first bishop: 

" Edward Partridge was born in Pittsfleld, Berk- 
shire Co., Mass., on the 27th of August, 1793; being 
of Scotch ancestry. At the age of twenty he had 
become disgusted with the religious world. He saw 
no beauty, comeliness, or loveliness, in the character 
of the God that was preached up by the sects. He 
however heard a universal restorationer preach 
upon the love of God. This sermon gave him ex- 
alted opinions of God, and he concluded that uni- 
versal restoration was right according to the Bible. 
He continued in this belief until 1828, when himself 
and wife were baptized into the Campbellite Church, 
by elder Sidney Rigdon. He continued a member 
of this church until P. -P. Pratt, O. Cowdery, P. 
Whitmer and Z. Peterson came with the Book of 
Mormon, when he began to investigate the subject 
of religion anew ; went with Sidney Rigdon to 
Fayette, N. Y., where, on the nth of December, I 
baptized him in the Seneca river." 

It is unnecessary to follow the details of the 
history of the Bishopric, but from this time forward 
it must be understood as superintending the gather- 
ings of the saints, and their temporal organizations 



114 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

in the various States, — Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, 
and lastly in Utah. But follow we more especially 
the evangelical work of the elders. Says the reve- 
lation of the Lord to the elders of the Church at 
Kirtland: 

****** Behold, verily I say unto you, 
I give unto you this first commandment, that ye 
shall go forth in my name, every one of you, ex- 
cepting my servants Joseph Smith, jun., and Sidney 
Rigdon. And I give unto them a commandment 
that they shall go forth for a little season, and it 
shall be given by the power of my Spirit when they 
shall return ; and ye shall go forth in the power of 
my Spirit, preaching my gospel, two by two, in my 
name, lifting up your voices as with a voice of a 
trump, declaring my word like unto angels of God; 
and ye shall go forth baptizing with water, saying, 
Repent ye, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is 
at hand. 

And from this place ye shall go forth into the 
regions westward; and inasmuch as ye shall find 
them that will receive you, ye shall build up my 
church in every region, until the time shall come 
when it shall be revealed unto you from on high, 
when the city of the New Jerusalem shall be pre- 
pared, that ye may be gathered in one, that ye may 
be my people and I will be your God. * * * * 

Again, I say unto you, that it shall not be given 
to any one to go forth to preach my gospel, or to 
build up my church, except he be ordained by some 
one who has authority, and it is known to the church 
that he has authority, and has been regularly or- 
dained by the heads of the church. 

And again, the elders, priests, and teachers of this 
church shall teach the principles of my gospel, which' 
are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, in the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. I 1 5 

which is the fullness of the gospel ; and they shall 
observe the covenants and church articles to do 
them, and these shall be their teachings, as they 
shall be directed by the Spirit; and the Spirit shall 
be given unto you by the prayer of faith, and if ye 
receive not the Spirit, ye shall not teach. And all 
this ye shall observe to do as I have commanded 
concerning your teaching, until the fullness of my 
scriptures are given. And as ye shall lift up your 
voices by the Comforter, ye shall speak and proph- 
esy as seemeth me good ; for, behold, the Comforter 
knoweth all things, and beareth record of the Father 
and of the Son. **■■•** 



Not the mere letter of the Scriptures were these 
elders sent forth to preach, but the living word of 
God ; not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but 
in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost 
was the proclamation to be given to the world. 

The example is well in keeping with that of 
Christ, in the days of his flesh, sending out the fish- 
ermen apostles ; and the solemn charge, " If ye 
receive not the Spirit, ye shall not teach," is a grand 
law to all evangelists. Himself an inspired man, 
Joseph was abundantly able to test his ministry by 
the gift of inspiration. 

The gospel of the latter-days was now fairly 
spreading in America, but not yet had it gone into 
Canada and over the mighty waters into foreign 
lands. The stupendous prophecy of the angel 
Moroni to Joseph that his name should be had for 
good and evil among all nations, was not yet in 
clear prospect of fulfillment. This consummation 
was to be in the ministry of the Twelve Apostles, 



Il6 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

who were already promised, but who were not 
chosen until several years later. 

Manifestations very similar to those of modern 
Spiritualism continuing to trouble the churches in 
and about Kirtland, the Prophet received several 
revelations concerning the "false spirits" which had 
gone abroad in the world, in which was given "tests 
of the spirits" and the proper manner of rebuking 
evil spirits prescribed. 

The saints from the State of New York — the 
birthplace of the Church — now began to come in, 
and bishop Partridge, by revelation, was directed 
how to settle the people and organize their temporal 
affairs. 

Joseph and a number of the leading elders were 
also directed to remove to Missouri (where, accord- 
ing to prophecy, the Zion of the Latter-days will in 
the Lord's due time be established), while Kirtland 
remained as a chief stake of Zion, for the gathering 
of the saints at that period. 

The elders began to go to the western country, 
two by two, according to the commandment, and 
while the Prophet was preparing for the journey, 
W. W. Phelps and family arrived and enquired of 
the Lord concerning his will. He received a reve- 
lation directing him to be baptized, and appointing 
his ordination to assist Oliver Cowdery. Thus it 
was that elder Phelps became a principal man in 
publishing the first periodicals of the Church. 

"On the 19th of June," says Joseph, "in company 
with Sidney Rigdon, Martin Harris, Edward Part- 
ridge, W. W. Phelps, Joseph Coe, and A. S. Gilbert 
and his wife, I started from Kirtland for Missouri 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. II J 

agreeably to the commandment before received, 
wherein it was promised that if we were faithful, the 
land of our inheritance, even the. place for the city 
of the New Jerusalem, should be revealed. We 
went by wagon, canal boat and stage to Cincinnati ; 
thence by steamer, via Louisville, to St. Louis. 
From St f Louis, myself and brothers Harris, Phelps, 
Partridge and Coe went on foot by land to Inde- 
pendence, Jackson Co., Missouri, where we arrived 
about the middle of July, and the residue of the 
company came by water a few days after. The 
meeting of our brethren, who had long waited our 
arrival, was a glorious one." 

Here, however, as Joseph informs us, his mind 
was filled with painful reflections on account of the 
"degradation, leanness of intellect, ferocity and 
jealousy of a people that were nearly a century be- 
hind the time." But his anxious thoughts were soon 
relieved by a revelation declaring that Independence 
was the centre place of the land of promise, direct- 
ing where the temple should be located, what lands 
should be purchased for the saints and how distrib- 
uted or apportioned to them ; also making certain 
directions as to their temporal well-being, etc., etc., 
and directing the final gathering of the body of the 
Church. 

The first Sabbath after their arrival in Jackson 
Co., elder Phelps preached to an audience beyond 
the [then] boundary of the United States. This 
audience was indeed a motley gathering, being made 
up of Indians, Negroes, and specimen frontiersmen, 
from many nations. 

About this time another revelation was given, 



Il8 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

directing the Bishopric. From it we excerpt the fol- 
lowing passages, touching the settling of the saints, 
the laying out of Zion, the dedication of the temple 
spot, and the publishing of the gospel to the ends 
of the earth : 

* * #• # And j et there be an agent appointed 
by the voice of the church, unto the church in Ohio, 
to receive moneys to purchase lands in Zion. 

And I give unto my servant, Sidney Rigdon, a 
commandment that he shall write a description of 
the land of Zion, and a statement of the will of God, 
as it shall be made known by the Spirit unto him ; 
and an epistle and subscription, to be presented 
unto all the churches to obtain moneys, to be put 
into the hands of the bishop to purchase lands for 
an inheritance for the children of God, of himself or 
the agent, as seemeth him good or as he shall direct. 
For, behold, verily I say unto you, the Lord willeth 
that the disciples, and the children of men should 
open their hearts, even to purchase this whole region 
of country, as soon as time will permit. Behold, 
here is wisdom. Let them do this lest they receive 
none inheritance, save it be by the shedding of 
blood. 

And again, inasmuch as there is land obtained, 
let there be workmen sent forth of all kinds unto 
this land, to labor for the saints of God. Let all 
these things be done in order; and let the privileges 
of the lands be made known from time to time, by 
the bishop or the agent of the church ; and let the 
work of the gathering be not in haste, nor by flight, 
but let it be done as it shall be counselled by the 
elders of the church at the conferences, according to 
the knowledge which they receive from time to time. 

And let my servant Sidney Rigdon consecrate * 
and dedicate this land, and the spot of the temple 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. II9 

unto the Lord. And let a conference meeting be 

called, and after that let my servants Sidney Rigdon 

and Joseph Smith, jun., return, and also Oliver 

Cowdery with them, to accomplish the residue of 

the work which I have appointed unto them in their 

own land, and the residue as shall be ruled by the 

conferences. 

****** 

Let the residue of the elders of this church, who 
are coming to this land, some of whom are exceed- 
ingly blessed even above measure, also hold a con- 
ference upon this land. * * * * And let them 
also return, preaching the gospel by the way, bear- 
ine record of the things which are revealed unto 
them ; for verily the sound must go forth from this 
place unto all the world. * * * 

The laying of the foundation of Zion, and the 
dedication of the land, with a descriptive view of 
the country, is thus told by Joseph : 

11 On the 2d of August, I assisted the Colesville 
branch of the Church to lay the first log, for a 
house, as a foundation for Zion in Kaw township, 
12 miles west of Independence. The log was car- 
ried and placed by twelve men, in honor of the 
twelve tribes of Israel. At the same time, through 
prayer, the land of Zion was consecrated and dedi- 
cated for the gathering of the saints, by elder Rig- 
don ; and it was a season of joy to those present, 
and afforded a glimpse of the future, which time will 
yet unfold to the satisfaction of the faithful. Un- 
like the timbered States in the East, except upon 
the water-courses which were verdantly dotted with 
trees, the beautiful rolling prairies lay spread around 
like a sea of meadows, decorated with a growth of 



120 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

flowers that seemed as gorgeous and grand as the 
brilliancy of stars in the heavens, and exceeding 
description. 

" On the 3d of August the spot for the temple, a 
little west of Independence, was dedicated in pres- 
ence of eight men, among whom were myself, Sidney 
Rigdon, Edward Partridge. W. W. Phelps, Oliver 
Cowdery, Martin Harris and Joseph Coe. The 
scene was solemn and impressive. On the 4th I 
attended the first conference in the land of Zion. It 
was held at the house of brother Joshua Lewis. 
The spirit of the Lord was there. On the 7th I 
attended the funeral of sister Polly Knight, the wife 
of Joseph Knight, sen. This was the first death in 
the church in this land." 

Joseph, Oliver and Sidney were next commanded 
of the Lord to make a journey to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
to lift up their warning voices in that city. But 
their destination was afterward changed to Kirtland, 
as the record shows. Joseph says: 

" On the 9th, in company with ten elders, I left 
Independence landing, for Kirtland. We started 
down the river in sixteen canoes, and went the first 
day as far as Fort Osage. Nothing very important 
occurred until the third day, when many of the dan- 
gers so common upon the western waters began to 
manifest themselves, and after we had encamped 
upon the river-bank at M'llwain's Bend, brother 
Phelps, in open vision by daylight, saw the destroyer 
in his most horrible power, ride upon the face of the 
waters. Others heard the noise, but saw not the 
vision. 

" On the 13th I met several of the elders on their 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 121 

way to Zion, after which we continued our journey 
by land to St. Louis. I arrived safe and well at 
Kirtland on the 27th. Many things transpired upon 
this journey to strengthen our faith." 

On the 1 2th of Sept. following, Joseph removed 
with his family to Hiram, in Portage Co., Ohio, about 
30 miles from Kirtland. Here, being domiciled with 
John Johnson, he prepared to re-commence the 
translation of the Bible. 

On the first Sunday of October following, Orson 
Hyde was baptized, and became a member of the 
Church. This gentleman, subsequently so widely 
and favorably known in the Church, was thus spoken 
of, by Joseph, at that time: 

" He was left in his infancy an orphan, with none 
to look upon him with a father's eye and feel for 
him with a mother's heart. The hand that wiped 
his infant tears was still ; the breast that gave him 
suck was cold and slumbering in the arms of death. 
He was thrust abroad upon the cold and friendless 
bosom of an unfeeling world, so that for twenty 
years he saw no one in whose veins flowed a drop 
of kindred blood, and, consequently, grew up as a 
wild and uncultivated plant of nature. And now 
he had come into the new and everlasting covenant, 
to be renewed grace for grace, and put himself under 
the Fatherly care of Him whose yoke is easy and 
whose burden is light, and who rewardeth his sons 
and daughters who serve him faithfully to the end, 
with eternal life." 

Elder Orson Hyde became one of the chief apos- 
tles of the last days. 

Thus it may be noticed that about this period the 



122 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

men were gathering around Joseph who were des- 
tined to " bear off the kingdom in all the world." 

In the fore part of October Joseph received this 
short but forceful revelation : 



Hearken, and lo, a voice as of one from on high, 
who is mighty and powerful, whose going forth is 
unto the ends of the earth, yea, whose voice is unto 
men — Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his 
paths straight. The keys of the kingdom of God 
are committed unto man on the earth, and from 
thence shall the gospel roll *forth unto the ends of 
the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the moun- 
tain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled 
the whole earth ; yea, a voice crying — Prepare ye 
the way of the Lord, prepare ye the supper of the 
Lamb, make ready for the bridegroom ; pray unto 
the Lord, call upon his holy name, make known his 
wonderful works among the people ; call upon the 
Lord, that his kingdom may go forth upon the 
earth, that the inhabitants thereof may receive it, 
and be prepared for the days to come, in the which 
the Son of man shall come down in heaven, clothed 
in the brightness of his glory, to meet the kingdom 
of God which is set up on the earth ; wherefore may 
the kingdom of God go forth, that the kingdom of 
heaven may come, that thou, O God, may be glori- 
fied in heaven so on earth, that thy enemies may be 
subdued ; for thine is the honor, power and glory, 
for ever and ever. Amen. 



Soon after this, Joseph, with elder Rigdon as 
scribe, resumed the translation of the Scriptures; 
and on the nth of October a conference was held 
at brother Johnson's, at which, says Joseph, "the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 23 

elders were instructed in the ancient manner of con- 
ducting meetings, of which knowledge most of them 
were ignorant." 

At this conference it was decided that Oliver 
Cowdery should carry the " commandments and 
revelations" to Independence, Mo., for printing, and 
that the Prophet was to prepare them for publica- 
tion. But " all this time," he says, " there were 
many things which the elders desired to know rela- 
tive to preaching the gospel to the inhabitants of 
the earth, and commencing the gathering." 

Accordingly, on the 3d of Nov. 183 1, a lengthy 
and explicit revelation was given. We extract as 
follows : 

Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the 
Lord your God, and hear the word of the Lord 
concerning you : the Lord who shall suddenly come 
to his temple : the Lord who shall come down upon 
the world with a curse to judgment; yea, upon all 
the nations that forget God, and upon all the un- 
godly among you. For he shall make bare his holy 
arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends 
of the earth shall see the salvation of their God. 

Wherefore, prepare ye, prepare ye, O my people; 
sanctify yourselves ; gather ye together, O ye people 
of my church, upon the land of Zion, all you that 
have not been commanded to tarry. Go ye out 
from Babylon. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of 
the Lord. Call your solemn assemblies, and speak 
often one to another. And let every man call upon 
the name of the Lord ; yea, verily I say unto you 
again, the time has come when the voice of the Lord 
is unto you, go ye out of Babylon ; gather ye out 
from among the nations, from the four winds, from 
one end of heaven to the other. 



124 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Send forth the Elders of my church unto the 
nations which are afar off; unto the islands of the 
sea ; send forth unto foreign lands ; call upon all 
nations ; firstly, upon the Gentiles, and then upon 
the Jews. And behold, and lo, this shall be their 
cry, and the voice of the Lord unto all people: Go 
ye forth unto the land of Zion, that the borders of 
my people may be enlarged, and that her stakes 
may be strengthened, and that Zion may go forth 
unto the regions round about ; yea, let the cry go 
forth among all people : Awake and arise and go 
forth to meet the bridegroom : behold and lo, the 
bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Pre- 
pare yourselves for the great day of the Lord. 

Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor 
the hour. Let them therefore, who are among the 
Gentiles, flee unto Zion. And let them who be of 
Judah flee unto Jerusalem, unto the mountains of 
the Lord's house. Go ye out from among the 
nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wick- 
edness, which is spiritual Babylon. But verily, thus 
saith the Lord, Let not your flight be in haste, but 
let all things be prepared before you ; and he that 
goeth let him not look back, lest sudden destruction 
shall come upon him. 

The above was the part for present application 
by the elders, while the remainder was a lengthy 
prophetic chapter on the literal gathering of Israel, 
the "ten tribes," and the coming of Messiah, which 
shall have review elsewhere among the themes of 
the Latter-day Prophet. 

And soon after this was given to Joseph and Sid- 
ney their grand vision concerning the " different 
glories," in which they conversed with the Saviour 
and were commanded to bear testimony of his 
resurrection to this generation. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 25 

A testimony most vital in the unfolding of a new 
Christian civilization ! 

The vision itself is also a very link of the divine 
history, and the subject-matter gives a view of Mor- 
mon theology so vast and sublime that it should 
here be presented to the reader as an illustration of 
its universal spirit and themes: 

Hear O ye heavens, and give ear O earth, and 
rejoice ye inhabitants thereof, for the Lord is God, 
and beside him there is no Saviour: great is his 
wisdom, marvelous are his ways, and the extent of 
his doings none can find out ; his purposes fail not, 
neither are there any who can stay his hand ; from 
eternity to eternity he is the same, and his years 
never fail. 

For thus saith the Lord, I, the Lord, am merciful 
and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to 
honor those who serve me in rio-hteousness and in 
truth unto the end, great shall be their reward and 
eternal shall be their glory : and to them will I re- 
veal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of 
my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come 
will I make known unto them the good pleasure of 
my will concerning all things pertaining to my king- 
dom ; yea, even the wonders of eternity shall they 
know, and things to come will I shew them, even 
the things of manv Generations ; and their wisdom 
shall be great, and their understanding reach to 
heaven : and before them the wisdom of the wise 
shall perish, and the understanding of the prudent 
shall come to nought ; for by my Spirit will I en- 
lighten them, and by my power will I make known 
unto them the secrets of my will ; yea, even those 
things which eve has not seen, nor ear heard, nor 
yet entered into the heart of man. 

We, Joseph Smith, jun., and Sidney Rigdon, being 



126 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

in the spirit on the sixteenth of February, in the year 
of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty- 
two, by the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened 
and our understandings were enlightened, so as to 
see and understand the things of God — even those 
things which were from the beginning before the 
world was, which were ordained of the Father, 
through his only begotten Son, who was in the 
bosom of the Father, even from the beginning, of 
whom we bear record, and the record which we bear 
is the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is 
the Son, whom we saw and with whom we conversed 
in the heavenly vision ; for while we were doing the 
work of translation, which the Lord had appointed 
unto us, we came to the twenty-ninth verse of the 
fifth chapter of John, which was given unto us as 
follows. Speaking of the resurrection of the dead, 
concerning those who shall hear the voice of the 
Son of man, and shall come forth ; they who have 
done good in the resurrection of the just, and they 
who have done evil in the resurrection of the unjust. 
Now this caused us to marvel, for it was given unto 
us of the Spirit ; and while we meditated upon these 
things, the Lord touched the eyes of our under- 
standings and they were opened, and the glory of 
the Lord shone round about ; and we beheld the 
glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father, 
and received of his fullness ; and saw the holy an- 
gels, and they who are sanctified before his throne, 
worshipping God, and the Lamb, who worship him 
for ever and ever. And now, after the many testi- 
monies which have been given of him, this is the 
testimony last of all, which we give of him, that he 
lives; for we saw him, even on the right hand of 
God, and we heard the voice bearing record that he 
is the only begotten of the Father — that by him and 
through him, and of him the worlds are and were* 
created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 12J 

sons and daughters unto God. And this we saw 
also, and bear record, that an angel of God who was 
in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled 
against the only begotten Son, whom the Father 
loved, and who was in the bosom of the Father — 
was thrust down from the presence of God and the 
Son, and was called Perdition, for the heavens wept 
over him — he was Lucifer, a son of the morning. 
And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen ! is fallen ! even 
a son of the morning. And while we were yet in 
the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should 
write the vision, for we beheld Satan, that old 
serpent — even the devil — who rebelled against God, 
and sought to take the kingdom of our God, and 
his Christ, wherefore he maketh war with the saints 
of God, and encompasses them round about. And 
we saw a vision of the sufferings of those with whom 
he made war and overcame, for thus came the voice 
of the Lord unto us. 

Thus saith the Lord, concerning- all those who 
know my power, and have been made partakers 
thereof, and suffered themselves, through the power 
of the devil, to be overcome, and to deny the truth 
and defy my power — they are they who are the sons 
of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better 
for them never to have been born, for they are ves- 
sels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, 
with the devil and his angels in eternity; concern- 
ing whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this 
world nor in the world to come, having denied the 
Holy Spirit after having received it, and having 
denied the only begotten Son of the Father — hav- 
ing crucified him unto themselves, and put him to 
an open shame. These are they who shall go away 
into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil 
and his angels, and the only ones on whom the 
second death shall have any power ; yea, verily, the 
only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due 



128 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

time of the Lord, after the suffering's of his wrath ; 
for all the rest shall be brought forth by the resur- 
rection of the dead, through the triumph and the 
glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the 
bosom of the Father before the worlds were made. 
And this is the gospel, the glad tidings which the 
voice out of the heavens bore record unto us, that 
he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified 
for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and 
to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all un- 
righteousness ; that through him all might be saved 
whom the Father had put into his power and made 
by him, who glorifies the Father, and saves all the 
works of his hands, except those sons of perdition, 
who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him; 
wherefore, he saves all except them : they shall go 
away into everlasting punishment, which is endless 
punishment, which is eternal punishment, to reign 
with the devil and his angels in eternity, where their 
worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which 
is their torment ; and the end thereof, neither the 
place thereof, nor their torment, no man knows, 
neither was it revealed, neither is, neither will be 
revealed unto man, except to them who are made 
partakers thereof: nevertheless I, the Lord, shew it 
by vision unto many, but straightway shut it up 
again ; wherefore the end, the width, the height, the 
depth, and the misery thereof, they understand not, 
neither any man except them who are ordained unto 
this condemnation. And we heard the voice, saying, 
Write the vision, for lo ! this is the end of the vision 
of the sufferings of the ungodly! 

And again, we bear record, for we saw and heard, 
and this is the testimony of the gospel of Christ, 
concerning them who come forth in the resurrection 
of the just; they are they who received the testi- 
mony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were 
baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. I2Q, 

in the water in his name, and this according to the 
commandment which he has given, that by keeping 
the commandments they might be washed and 
cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy 
Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is 
ordained and sealed unto this power, and who over- 
come by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of 
promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those 
who are just and true. They are they who are the 
church of the first born. They are they into whose 
hands the Father has given all things — they are 
they who are priests and kings, who have received 
of his fullness, and of his glory, and are priests of 
the Most High, after the order of Melchisedek, 
which was after the order of Enoch, which was after 
the order of the only begotten Son ; wherefore, as 
it is written, they are Gods, even the sons of God — 
wherefore all things are theirs, whether life or death, 
or things present, or things to come, all are theirs 
and they are Christ's and Christ is God's; and they 
shall overcome all things; wherefore let no man 
glory in man, but rather let him glory in God, who 
shall subdue all enemies under his feet — these shall 
dwell in the presence of God and his Christ for ever 
and ever. These are they whom he shall bring with 
him, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven, to 
reign on the earth over his people. These are they 
who shall have part in the first resurrection. These 
are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of 
the just. These are they who are come unto mount 
Zion, and unto. the city of the living God, the heav- 
enly place, the holiest of all. These are they who 
have come to an innumerable company of angels, to 
the general assembly and church of Enoch, and of 
the first-born. These are they whose names are 
written in heaven, where God and Christ are the 
judge of all. These are they who are jus c t men 
made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new 

9 



130 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement 
through the shedding of his own blood. These are 
they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that 
of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, 
whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of 
as being typical, 

And again, we saw the terrestrial world, and be- 
hold and lo, these are they who are of the terrestrial, 
whose glory differs from that of the church of the 
first-born, who have received the fullness of the 
Father, even as that of the moon differs from the 
sun in the firmament. Behold, these are they who 
died without law, and also they who are the spirits 
of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and 
preached the gospel unto them, that they might be 
judged according to men in the flesh, who received 
not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but after- 
wards received it. These are they who are honor- 
able men of the earth, who were blinded by the 
craftiness of men. These are they who receive of 
his glory, but not of his fullness. These are they 
who receive of the presence of the Son, but not of 
the fullness of the Father; wherefore they are 
bodies terrestrial, and not bodies celestial, and differ 
in glory as the moon differs from the sun. These 
are they who are not valiant in the testimony of 
Jesus; wherefore they obtained not the crown over 
the kingdom of our God. And now this is the end 
of the vision which we saw of the terrestrial, that 
the Lord commanded us to write while we were yet 
in the Spirit. 

And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, 
which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory 
of the stars differs from that of the glory of the 
moon in the firmament. These are they who re- 
ceived not the gospel of Christ, neither the testi- 
mony of Jesus. These are they who deny not the 
Holy Spirit. These are they who are thrust down 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. I3I 

to hell. These are they who shall not be redeemed 
from the devil, until the last resurrection, until the 
Lord, even Christ the Lamb shall have finished his 
work. These are they who receive not of his full- 
ness in the eternal world, but of the Holy Spirit 
through the ministration of the terrestrial ; and the 
terrestrial through the ministration of the celestial ; 
and also the telestial receive it of the administering 
of angels who are appointed to minister for them, 
or who are appointed to be ministering spirits for 
them, for they shall be heirs of salvation. And thus 
we saw in the heavenly vision, the glory of the 
telestial, which surpasses all understanding, and no 
man knows it except him to whom God has revealed 
it. And thus we saw the glory of the terrestrial, 
which excels in all things the glory of the telestial, 
even in glory, and in power, and in might, and in 
dominion. And thus we saw the glory of the celes- 
tial, which excels in all things — where God, even 
the Father, reigns upon his throne for ever and 
ever; before whose throne all things bow in humble 
reverence and* give him glory for ever and ever. 
They who dwell in his presence are the church of 
the first born, and they see as they are seen, and 
know as they are known, having received of his 
fullness and of his grace; and he makes them equal 
in power, and in might, and in dominion. And the 
glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the 
sun is one. And the glory of the terrestrial is one, 
even as the glory of the moon is one. And the 
glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the 
stars is one, for as one star differs from another star 
in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in 
the telestial world; for these are they who are of 
Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas. These are 
they who say they are some of one and some of 
another — some of Christ, and some of John, and 
some of Moses, and some of Elias, and some of 



132 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Esaias, and some of Isaiah, and some of Enoch; but 
received not the gospel, neither the testimony of 
Jesus, neither the prophets, neither the everlasting 
covenant. Last of all, these all are they who will 
not be gathered with the saints, to be caught up 
unto the church of the first born, and received into 
the cloud. These are they who are liars, and 
sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and 
whosoever loves and makes a lie. These are they 
who suffer the wrath of God on the earth. These 
are they who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. 
These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer 
the wrath of Almighty God, until the fullness of 
times when Christ shall have subdued all enemies 
under his feet, and shall have perfected his work, 
when he shall deliver up the kingdom, and present 
it unto the Father spotless, saying — I have over- 
come and have trodden the wine-press alone, even 
the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of 
Almighty God. Then shall he be crowned with 
the crown of his glory, to sit on the throne of his 
power to reign for ever and ever. But behold, and 
lo, we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the 
telestial world, that they were as innumerable as 
the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand 
upon the sea-shore, and heard the voice of the 
Lord, saying — these all shall bow the knee, and 
every tongue shall confess to him who sits upon the 
throne for ever and ever; for they shall be judged 
according to their works, and every man shall re- 
ceive according to his own works, his own dominion, 
in the mansions which are prepared, and they shall 
be servants of the Most High, but where God and 
Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end. 
This is the end of the vision which we saw, which 
we were commanded to write while we were yet in 
the Spirit. 

But great and marvelous are the works of the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. I33 

Lord, and the mysteries of his kingdom which he 
showed unto us, which surpasses all understanding 
in glory, and in might, and in dominion, which he 
commanded us we should not write while we were 
yet in the Spirit, and are not lawful for man to 
utter ; neither is man capable to make them known, 
for they are only to be seen and understood by the 
power of the Holy Spirit, which God bestows on 
those who love him, and purify themselves before 
him ; to whom he grants this privilege of seeing and 
knowing for themselves ; that through the power 
and manifestation of the Spirit, while in the flesh, 
they may be able to bear his presence in the world 
of glory. And to God and the Lamb be glory, and 
honor, and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 

And this is Mormonism ! A grand universal 
scheme of salvation! A stupendous structure of 
divine purposes and divine beneficence ! 

Consider how narrow were the theological views 
of the Christian world forty-seven years ago. How 
rarely spoke the divines of that day of a gospel of 
universal salvation and glory for the race in the 
worlds to come. How generally did they preach of 
an almost universal damnation for the sons and 
daughters of Adam ! 

Fifty years ago hell, not heaven, was the view 
which sectarian divinity chose to present; and dam- 
nation, not salvation, its all-potent theme. Salva- 
tion was little else than the escape of the few from 
perdition, and heaven was little else than the refuge 
of frightened sinners. 

Thus considered, Joseph's views commend them- 
selves to the universalian intellect of to-day as being, 
not only far above, but beyond, his times ; and the 



134 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

divine economy, and the final destiny of the race, 
are presented by him more Godlike in cast than 
ever before by priest or prophet. 

It will be observed also that this vision is su- 
premely unique, — unlike any comprehensive pre- 
sentation of the modern intellect, yet worthy of 
admiration for the boldness and grandeur of the 
genius that inspired its type of gospel theme. The 
vision, in fact, is purely Mormon, with not a thought 
or form borrowed from modern times. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE CHURCH IN MISSOURI THEME OF THE GATH- 
ERING INAUGURATION OF THE PERSECUTIONS 

A MARVELOUS EPISODE TERRIBLE WORDS TO 

ZION THE PLACE OF PROMISE JUDGMENT AT 

THE PIOUSE OF THE LORD INTRODUCTION OF 

BRIGHAM YOUNG AND OTHERS CURRENT EVENTS. 

The historic importance of the Church was now 
turning towards Missouri. Ohio was the first gath- 
ering place of the saints, and Kirtland the spot 
where the first temple was to be reared to Jehovah's 
name ; but Missouri was the State where Zion with 
its grand temple of the dispensation loomed up in 
the vision of the future. 

Already, as we have seen, had some of the saints 
migrated into Missouri. Zion's cords were length- 
ening and her stakes multiplying. 

At this juncture a letter was received by the 
Prophet, from certain of the brethren, reporting 
their safe arrival at Independence, Missouri, with 
their printing press, and accompanying the letter 
was the prospectus of a monthly paper, called the 
Evening and Morning Star, — W. W. Phelps, editor. 
It being the first periodical published by the Church, 
the opening passage of this prospectus (which was 



I36 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

very much like an apostolic proclamation to all the 
world) will have a special historic interest. It reads: 
" As the forerunner of the night of the end, and 
the messenger of the day of redemption, the Star 
will borrow its light from sacred sources, and. be 
devoted to the revelations of God as made known 
to his servants by the Holy Ghost, at sundry times, 
since the creation of man, but more especially in 
these last days, for the restoration of the house of 
Israel. We rejoice much because God has been so 
mindful of his promise, as again to send into this 
world the Holy Ghost, whereby we are enabled to 
know the right way to holiness ; and, furthermore, 
to prove all doctrines, whether they be of God or 
man, for there can be but one, as Ghrist and the 
Father are one. All of us know, or ought to, that 
our Heavenly Father, out of all the peoples which 
he had planted on the earth, chose but one people, 
to whom he gave his laws, his revelations, and his 
commandments, and this was Jacob his chosen and 
Israel his elect. All know, too, or might, that for 
disobedience, or not keeping his commandments to 
do them, God had this people carried away captive 
into all countries and scattered among all nations, 
but promised that he would gather them and bring 
them again unto their own lands ; then the land 
should yield its increase, and at that time he would 
take away the stony heart and give them a heart of 
flesh, and write his law in it, that all might know 
him from the least of them to the greatest of them : 
so that the knowledge of him might fill the whole 
earth, as the waters coverthe sea. At which time 
it shall no more be said, the Lord liveth that 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 37 

brought up the children of Israel from the land of 
the north, and from all the lands whither he had 
driven them. And it shall come to pass in the last 
days, the mountain of the Lord's house shall be 
established in the top of the mountains, and shall 
be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall 
flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, 
Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the 
Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will 
teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths : 
for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word 
of the Lord from Jerusalem. And it shall come to 
pass in that day, the Lord shall set his hand again 
the second time to recover the remnant of his peo- 
ple, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from 
Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from 
Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and 
from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up 
an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the 
outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed 
of Judah from the four corners of the earth." 

This will illustrate the view that the gathering of 
the saints was assuming that grand Israelitish swell 
which has since characterized all the migrations of 
the Mormon people. It was the gathering together 
of Israel in the last days, — not the mere migration 
of adventurous Americans ; and the glorious themes 
of the Prophets of ancient Israel inspired the move- 
ment. 

But the sunlit sky of prosperity was about to be 
overcast with the dark clouds of persecution. The 
reign of mobocracy was near. Its opening was quite 
dramatic, also, while Joseph and Sidney were prom- 



I38 LIFE OK JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

inent in the first act of what, before the close, be- 
came a series of terrible tragedies. Of this first 
scene Joseph says : 

" Before going to Hiram, to live with father John- 
son, my wife had taken two children (twins), of John 
Murdock, to bring up. She received them when 
only nine days old, and they were now nearly eleven 
months. I would remark that nothing of import- 
ance had occurred since I came there, except that I 
had held meetings on the Sabbath and evenings, and 
baptized a number. 

"On the 25th of March (the twins having been 
sick of the measles for some time), in the evening, 
I told my wife to retire to bed with one of the chil- 
dren, and I would watch with the sickest one. In 
the night she told me I had better lie down on the 
trundle bed, and I did so, and was soon after awak- 
ened by her screaming 'murder!' when I found 
myself going out of the door, in the hands of about 
a dozeir men, some of whose hands were in my hair, 
and some having hold of my shirt, drawers, and 
limbs. I made a desperate struggle, as I was forced 
out, to extricate myself, but only cleared one leg, 
with which I made a pass at one man, and he fell on 
the doorsteps. But I was immediately confined 
again, and remained 'quiet, under their threat to kill 
me if I did not keep still. 

" They then seized me by the throat, and held 
on till I lost my breath. After I came to, as they 
passed along with me, about thirty rods from the 
house, I saw elder Rigdon stretched out on the 
ground, whither they had dragged him by the heels. 
I supposed he was dead. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 39 

" After they had carried me about thirty rods 
farther they stopped, and while some held me, the 
others withdrew a little distance and held a council. 
As I heard an occasional remark, I gleaned the fact 
that they were discussing the propriety of killing 
me. They returned after awhile, and with many 
oaths tore off my shirt and drawers, and one of 
them attempted to force a paddle of tar into my 
mouth, but I turned my head and avoided it. They 
then tried to force a vial into my mouth, and broke 
it in my teeth. Then one of them fell on me and 
scratched my naked body with his nails, like a mad 

cat, muttering, ' G d ye, that's the way the 

Holy Ghost falls on folks.' 

" They then left me, and after freeing my mouth 
from the tar so I could breathe more freely, I made 
my way back to the house, when a blanket was 
thrown to me, and I went in. 

" Father Johnson, in attempting to rescue elder 
Rigdon, was severely injured ; and elder Rigdon, 
who had been dragged by the heels with his head 
upon the frozen ground, was delirious for several 
days. The feathers, which were used with the tar, 
were taken from elder Rigdon's house. 

" My friends spent the night in scraping and re- 
moving the tar, and washing and cleansing my body, 
so that by morning I was ready to be clothed again. 
This being Sabbath morning, the people assembled 
for meeting at the usual hour. With my flesh all 
scarified and defaced, I preached to the congrega- 
tion as usual, and in the afternoon of the same day 
baptized three individuals." 

The narrative further relates that during the 



140 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

mobbing one of the sick children caught a cold, 
from which it shortly after died. The mob was led 
by a Campbellite minister by the name of Rider, 
and was mostly composed of professors of re- 
ligion 

In order to avoid further mobbing, Joseph shortly 
after fled by the most expeditious route to a point 
named Warren, where he was joined by elder Rig- 
don, and they journeyed thence together to Wheel- 
ing, Va. Taking steamer, from there they went to 
St. Louis, and thence to Independence, Mo., where 
they arrived on the 24th of April, " finding the breth- 
ren generally enjoying health and faith, and ex- 
tremely glad to welcome us among them.' 

It may have been noticed how democratic in 
form and action was the Latter-day Church in its 
rise; for notwithstanding Joseph, and Oliver Cow- 
dery, had been ordained by the angels, at the organ- 
ization of the Church they were chosen by the vote 
of the members and formally re-ordained. In keep- 
ing with this was the following event: 

" On the 26th," says Joseph, " I called a general 
council of the Church, and was acknowledged as 
the president of the High Priesthood, according to 
a previous ordination at a conference of High 
Priests, elders and members, held at Amherst, Ohio, 
on the 25th of Jan. 1832. The right hand of fel- 
lowship was given to me by the bishop, Edward 
Partridge, in behalf of the Church. The scene was 
solemn, impressive, and delightful. 

" On the 27th we transacted considerable business 
for the salvation of the saints, who were settling 
among a ferocious set of mobbers, like lambs among 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 141 

wolves. It was my endeavor to so organize the 
Church that the brethren might eventually be inde- 
pendent of every incumbrance beneath the celestial 
kingdom, by bonds and covenants of mutual friend- 
ship and mutual love. 

■ On the 6th of May I gave the parting hand to 
the brethren in Independence, and, in company with 
brothers Rigdon and Whitney, commenced areturn to 
Kirtland, by stage to St. Louis, thence to Yincennes f 
Ind., thence to New Albany, near the falls of the 
Ohio." 

Before reaching the latter point their horses ran 
away, and in their efforts to escape from the coach 
Mr. Whitney was so unfortunate as to sustain a 
compound fracture of the bones of one of his limbs. 
He was thereby detained four weeks at a public 
house, and Joseph remained to nurse him, while 
elder Rigdon went forward to Kirtland. 

Here occurred quite a marvelous episode. The 
Anti-Mormons, it appears, attempted to poison the 
Prophet, as a means of cruelly testing whether the 
"signs" followed the Mormons. Joseph says: 

" One day, when I arose from the dinner table, I 
walked directly to the door and commenced vomit- 
ing most profusely. I raised large quantities of 
blood and poisonous matter, and so great were the 
contortions of my muscular system, that my jaw 
was dislocated in a few moments. This I succeeded 
in replacing with my own hands, and I then made 
my way to brother Whitney (who was on his bed), 
as speedily as possible. He laid his hands on me, 
and administered in the name of the Lord, and I 
was healed in an instant, although the effect of the 



142 • LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

poison had been so* powerful as to cause much of 
the hair to become loosened from my head." 

Thus was Joseph saved from poison by the power 
of the gospel, according to the promise : " If they 
drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them." 
Elder Whitney having sufficiently recovered, they 
shortly after journeyed forward to Kirtland, where 
they arrived in June. 

Towards the close of September, 1832, the elders 
began to return from their missions to the Eastern 
States. The Prophet continued the translation of 
the Scriptures, and the oversight of the Church at 
Kirtland, during the Fall, excepting the time re- 
quired for a rapid journey to Albany, New York 
and Boston, in company with bishop Whitney, from 
which he returned on the 6th of November, when 
he first saw his son Joseph, who had been born on 
the 6th. 

After his return the Prophet received several of 
his most important revelations, which developed his 
mission, and enlarged the views of the disciples con- 
cerning the Latter-day work. 

At the opening of the year 1833, Joseph began to 
warn Zion, in Missouri, of the coming day of trouble. 
<* I am not in the habit," he wrote, " of crying peace, 
when there is no peace ; and, knowing the threat- 
ened judgments of God, I say, Woe unto them who 
are at ease in Zion ; fearfulness will speedily lay hold 
of the hypocrite." 

Next was sent an epistle, headed, " From a con- 
ference of twelve high priests, to the Bishop, his 
Council, and the inhabitants of Zion," urging them 
to repent, for the Prophet in his epistle to them had 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 143 

pronounced the Lord's favor towards Kirtland, but 
terrible words to Zion: 

" We have the satisfaction of knowing that the 
Lord approves of us, and has accepted us, and es- 
tablished his name in Kirtland for the salvation of 
the nations ; for the Lord will have a place whence 
his word will go forth, in these last days, in purity; 
for if Zion will not purify herself, so as to be ap- 
proved of in all things in his sight, he will seek 
another people ; for his work will go on until Israel 
is gathered, and they who will not hear his voice, 
must expect to feel his wrath. Let me say unto 
you, seek to purify yourselves, and also all the 
inhabitants of Zion, lest the Lord's anger be kindled 
to fierceness. Repent, repent, is the voice of God 
to Zion ; and strange as it may appear, yet it is 
true, mankind will persist in self-justification until 
all their iniquity is exposed, and their character past 
being redeemed, and that which is treasured up in 
their hearts be exposed to the gaze of mankind. I 
say to you (and what I say to you I say to all), hear 
the warning voice of God, lest Zion fall, and the 
Lord swear in his wrath the inhabitants of Zion 
shall not enter into my rest. 

" The brethren in Kirtland pray for you unceas- 
ingly, for, knowing the terrors of the Lord, they 
greatly fear for you. You will see that the Lord 
commanded us, in Kirtland, to build a house of God, 
and establish a school for the Prophets : this is the 
word of the Lord to us, and we must, yea, the Lord 
helping us, we will obey ; as on conditions of our 
obedience he has promised us great things ; yea, 



144 LI FE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

even a visit from the heavens to honor us with his 
own presence." 

Just here it will be well to correct a very general 
misstatement of Anti-Mormon writers. They have 
said that the Prophet now chose one place for 
Zion and now another, and that all of his prophecies 
concerning her and her location signally fell to 
the ground. But the reverse of this is the actual 
fact. 

To this day the Mormons have never looked upon 
but one spot as that whereon Zion of the Latter- 
days is to be built, namely, in Jackson County, 
Missouri. And as we here see, Joseph, from the 
earliest period, clearly indicated by prophecy that 
the saints of that generation were not the ones who 
should rear the holy city (though the promise was 
that the generation should not all pass away before 
her glory came). But Zion was in danger of being 
rejected for a season even then. To not many of 
that generation seemed to have appertained the 
promise of entering into her rest and glory. 

Zion was the city of the future! The elect only 
were to be her inhabitants. They should be a tried 
people, and the day of Zion's rise was to be the day 
of triumph and consummation, not the day of pro- 
bation and scourging. 

" When the Lord shall build up Zion he shall 
appear in his glory." 

Therefore Kirtland was the place chosen where 
the first temple was to be built and the apostles 
endowed and sent forth to the natians. Yet did 
the Lord cause the corner stones of Zion to be laid,. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 145 

in the Prophet's lifetime, and the gathering of the 
people to Missouri in the progress of their growth 
was a prophecy of events in the coming times. 

Nor let it be thought that the gathering to Mis- 
souri was without purpose and results. The very 
destiny of the saints shows that they were to be 
driven from State to State; but, finally, after the 
days of tribulation, the "Kingdom of God" was 
to roll, as the little stone cut out of the mountain. 
After that Zion is to arise in her strength, in the 
place of promise, and all nations shall see in her the 
glory of her God. 

But "judgment" was about to "begin at the 
house of the Lord," and that was in the place where 
Zion is to be built. It commenced in Jackson 
County, Missouri ! 

The diary of Joseph continues, relating that on 
the 26th of February a special council of high priests 
was held in Zion for the purpose of considering the 
above mentioned epistle, at which a return epistle 
was duly drafted. And on account of said admoni- 
tory epistle from Joseph, a solemn assembly was 
called in Zion, and a sincere and humble repentance 
was manifested. 

In the month of April following, the first regular 
mob gathered against the saints in Missouri. They 
came together in .Independence, to the number of 
about three hundred, but failing to unite upon any 
regular plan, they finally broke up in disorder and 
retired. 

"July 13th," says Joseph, "a council of elders, 
namely, G. H. Carter, Jacob Wood, Dennis Lake, 
Brigham Young, James Lake, N. R. Whitney, John 

10 



I46 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Smith, Luke Johnson, with myself, assembled in 
Kirtland." 

This being the first time the name of Brigham 
Young occurs in the diary of Joseph, we deem it 
proper to here sketch the commencement of the 
connection of himself and Heber C. Kimball with 
che Latter-day Church. It opens with his brother, 
Phineas Young, who says: 

" In April, 1830, as I was on my way home from 
the town of Lima, where I had been to preach, I 
stopped at the house of a man by the name of Tom- 
linson. While engaged in conversation with the 
family, a young man came in, and, walking across 
the room to where I was sitting, held a book to- 
wards me, saying, ' There is a book, sir, I wish you 
!.o read.' The thing appeared so novel to me that 
for a moment I hesitated, saying, ' Pray, sir, what 
book have you ?' ' The Book of Mormon, or, as it 
's called by some, the Golden Bible.' ' Ah, sir, then 
it purports to be a revelation ?' 'Yes,' said he, 'it 
is a revelation from God.' 

"This language seemed to me very strange, and, 
I thought, rather ridiculous. However, I thought it 
my duty to read it, and search out the errors, and, 
as a teacher in Israel, expose such errors and save 
the people from delusion. I commenced and read 
every word in the book the same week. The week 
following I did the same, but, to my surprise, I could 
not find the errors I anticipated, but felt a conviction 
that the book was true." 

Phineas thereupon became a zealous advocate of 
the new faith, and brought the Book of Mormon to 
the attention of his father, brothers and sister. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 147 

In the life of Brigham Young it is recorded that 
in the Spring of 1830 he first saw the Book of Mor- 
mon, which was left with his brother Phineas by 
Samuel H. Smith, brother of the Prophet. And in 
April, 1832, he was baptized and ordained an elder 
in the Church. Shortly thereafter, with his brother 
Joseph, and Heber C. Kimball, he started for Kirt- 
land to see the Prophet. Arriving at Kirtland, they 
found him, with several of his brethren, in the woods 
chopping and hauling wood. " Here," says Brigham, 
" my joy was full at the privilege of shaking the 
hand of the Prophet of God, and receiving the sure 
testimony by the spirit of prophecy that he was all 
that any man could believe him to be, as a true 
Prophet. He was happy to see us, and bid us wel- 
come. In the evening a few of the brethren came 
in, and we conversed together upon the things of the 
kingdom. He called upon me to pray. In my 
prayer I spoke in tongues. As soon as we arose 
from our knees the brethren nocked around him, 
and asked his opinion concerning the gift of tongues 
that was upon me. He told them it was the pure 
Adamic language. Some said to him they expected 
he would condemn the gift, but he said, ' No; it is 
of God."' 

It was at about this date, or within the next three 
years, that the men entered the Church who have 
since been its pillars, although the Pratts, Oliver 
Cowdery, and the other witnesses of the Book of 
Mormon, Sidney Rigdon and Bishops Partridge and 
Whitney were, with Joseph, the founders of the 
Church, while John Taylor and a few others, who 
have since taken apostolic and presiding rank, came 



I48 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

in at about the close of the first seven years, and in 
the period of the rise of Nauvoo. 

We must pass over the history of the early per- 
secutions in Missouri, including the semi-military 
episode of a company of elders, under the Prophet, 
known as " Zion's Camp," going up to Missouri to 
help the inhabitants of Zion, for this belongs rather 
to Church history than to the personal mission of 
Joseph, and it would of itself form a volume. 

Hasten we now to the calling of the Twelve 
Apostles to preach the gospel to all nations; the 
further unfolding of the dispensation and its " ever- 
lasting covenant ;" the Temple, the Priesthood, and 
the wondrous themes which Joseph, as the oracle of 
God, from time to time, revealed to a latter-day 
Israel. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

CALLING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES THEIR ORDI- 
NATIONS AND BLESSINGS CHARGE TO PARLEY 

P. PRATT CHARGE TO THE TWELVE ORGANI- 
ZATION OF THE SEVENTIES HISTORICAL INCI- 
DENTS. « 

The time had now come for the calling of the 
twelve apostles of the dispensation. 

Joseph had not forgotten the revelation and 
promise, given years before, on this event ; and it 
is here worthy of remark that he never laid down 
in the prophetic programme anything which was 
not afterward fulfilled, though some of the events 
foretold, — such as the gathering of a people from 
all nations, — were, at the time of utterance, very 
miracles of promise. 

In Kirtland, on the 14th day of February, 1835, a 
grand meeting of the elders was called, at which the 
Prophet, after laying before them the subject of 
choosing the Twelve, said he wanted an expression 
from the brethren, if they would be satisfied to have 
the Spirit of the Lord dictate in the choice of the 
elders to be apostles ; whereupon all of the elders 
present expressed their anxious desire to have it so. 



150 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Joseph stated that the first business of the meet- 
ing was for the three witnesses of the Book of 
Mormon to pray, each one, and then proceed to 
choose twelve men from the Church as apostles, to 
go to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people. 

The three witnesses, namely, Oliver Cowdery, 
David Whitmer,and Martin Harris, united in prayer. 

They were then blessed by the laying on of the 
hands of the Presidency, and then proceeded to 
make choice of the Twelve, as follows: 

1. Lyman E. Johnson, 7. Wm. E. McLellin, 

2. Brigham Young, 8. John F. Boynton, 

3. Heber C. Kimball, 9*. Orson iPratt, 

4. Orson Hyde, 10. William Smith, 

5. David W. Patten, 11. Thomas B. Marsh, 

6. Luke Johnson, 12. Parley P. Pratt. 

It is not practicable to give the ordinations and 
blessings of the Twelve, as only a brief synopsis of 
the occurrence is extant. Suffice it to say the pro- 
ceedings occupied two days, when the meeting ad- 
journed. 

On the 2 1st, continues the record, " pursuant to 
adjournment, a meeting of the Church was held, 
and after prayer by David Whitmer, and a short 
address by Oliver Cowdery to the congregation, 
Elder Parley P Pratt was called to the stand and 
ordained one of the Twelve, by Presidents Joseph 
Smith, jun., David Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery." 

After Parley's ordination, Oliver Cowdery gave 
to him his apostolic charge, which is so character- 
istic and prophetic that it deserves to be preserved 
in this connection. It was as follows: 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 151 

" I am aware, dear brother, that the mind natur- 
ally claims something new ; but the same thing, 
rehearsed frequently, profits us. You will have the 
same difficulties to encounter in fulfilling this min- 
istry that the ancient apostles had. You have en- 
listed in a cause that requires your whole attention; 
you ought, therefore, to count the cost ; and to be- 
come a polished shaft, you must be sensible, requires 
the labor of years ; and your station requires a 
perfect polish. It is required not merely to travel a 
few miles in the country, but in distant countries. 
You must endure much labor, much toil, and many 
privations, to become perfectly polished. 

Your calling- is not like that of the husbandman, 
to cultivate a stinted portion of the planet on which 
we dwell, and when heaven has given the former and 
the latter rain, and mellow Autumn has ripened his 
fruit, gather it in, and congratulate himself for a 
season in the remission of his toils, while he antici- 
pates his Winter evenings of relaxation and fireside 
enjoyments ; but, dear brother, it is far otherwise 
with you. Your labor must be incessant, and your 
toil great ; you must go forth and labor till the 
great work is done. It will require a series of years 
to accomplish it, but you will have this pleasing con- 
solation, that your Heavenly Father requires it. 
The field is his ; the work is his ; and he will not 
only cheer you, animate you, and buoy you up in 
your pilgrimage, in your arduous toils, but when 
your work is done, and your labor over, he will take 
you to himself. But before this consummation of 
your felicity, bring your mind to bear upon what 
will be imperiously required of you, to accomplish 
the great work that lies before you. Count well 
the cost. You have read of the persecutions and 
trials of ancient days. Has not bitter experience 
taught you that they are the same now? You will 
be dragged before the authorities for the religion 



152 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

you profess ; and it were better not to set out than 
to start and look back, or shrink when dangers 
thicken upon you, or appalling death stares you in 
the face. I have spoken these things, dear brother, 
because I have seen them in visions. There are 
strong dungeons and gloomy prisons for you. These 
should not appal you. You must be called a good 
or bad man. The ancients passed through the same. 
They had this testimony — that they had seen the 
Saviour after he rose- from, the dead. You must 
bear some testimony, or your mission, your labor, 
your toil, will be in vain. You must bear the same 
testimony, that there is but one God, one mediator. 
He that has seen him will know him, and testify of 
him. Beware of pride; beware of evil — shun the 
very appearance of it, for the time is coming when, 
if you do not give heed to these things, you will 
have a fall. Among your many afflictions you will 
have many blessings also; but you must pass 
through many afflictions in order to receive the glory 
that is in store for you. You will see thousands, 
who, when they first see you, will know nothing 
about salvation by Jesus Christ : you shall see a 
nation born in a day. A great work lies before you, 
and the time is near when you must bid farewell to 
your native land, cross the mighty deep, and sound 
the tocsin of alarm to other nations, kindreds, 
tongues and people. Remember that all your 
hopes of deliverance from danger and from death, 
will rest upon your faithfulness to God. In his 
cause you must serve him with a perfect heart and 
a willing mind. Avoid strife and vain glory; think 
not yourself better than your brethren, but pray for 
them as well as for yourself; and if you are faithful, 
great will be your blessings ; but if you are not, 
your stewardship will be taken from you, and another 
appointed in your stead." 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 153 

Elder Pratt gave his hand to President Cowdery, 
and said he had received ordination, and should 
fulfill the ministry according to the grace given him, 
to which elder Cowdery replied, "Go forth, and 
angels shall bear thee up ; and thou shalt come forth 
at the last day, bringing many with thee." 

Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Pratt being absent 
on mission at this time, received their ordinations 
and blessings on their return in the following April. 

The grand charge to the Twelve, as a body, is 
still more important and historic, and must be given, 
as it is the very genesis of their ministry. It was as 
follows : 

" Dear brethren, previous to delivering the charge, 
I shall read a part of a revelation. It is known to 
you that, previous to the organizing of this Church 
in 1830, the Lord gave revelations, or the Church 
could not have been organized. The people of this 
church were weak in faith compared with the an- 
cients. Those who embarked in this cause w r ere 
desirous to know how the work was to be conducted. 
They read many things in the Book of Mormon, 
concerning their duty, and the way the great work 
ought to be done ; but the minds of men are so 
constructed that they will not believe without a 
testimony of seeing or hearing. The Lord gave us 
a revelation that, in process of time, there should be 
twelve men chosen to preach his gospel to Jew and 
Gentile. Our minds have been on a constant 
stretch to find who these twelve were. When the 
time should come we could not tell, but we. sought 
the Lord, by fasting and prayer, to have our lives 
prolonged to see this day, to see you, and to take a 
retrospect of the difficulties through which we have 
passed. But, having seen the day, it becomes my 



154 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

duty to deliver to you a charge ; and first, a few 
remarks respecting your ministry. You have many 
revelations put into your hands ; revelations to 
make you acquainted with the nature of your mis- 
sion. You will have difficulties by reason of your 
visiting all the nations of the world. You will need 
wisdom in a tenfold proportion to what you have 
ever had ; you will have to combat all the prejudices 
of all nations." 

The revelation was then read, and the charge 
continued : 



" Have you desired this ministry with all your 
hearts ? If you have desired it, you are called of 
God, not of man, to go into all the world." 

Then reading again from the revelation, what the 
Lord said to the Twelve, the speaker continued : 

" Brethren, you have your duty presented in this 
revelation. You have been ordained to the holy 
priesthood ; you have received it from those who 
have their power and authority from an angel ; you 
are to preach the gospel to every nation. Should 
you in the least degree come short of your duty, 
great will be your condemnation ; for the greater 
the calling the greater the transgression. I there- 
fore warn you to cultivate great humility; for I 
know the pride of the human heart. Beware, lest 
the flatterers of the world lift you up; beware, lest 
your affections are captivated by worldly objects. 
Let your ministry be first. Remember the souls of 
men are committed to your charge, and if you mind 
your calling you shall always prosper. 

" You have been indebted to other men, in the 
first instance, for evidence; on that you have acted; 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 55 

but it is necessary that you receive a testimony 
from heaven for yourselves, so that you can bear 
testimony to the truth of the Book of Mormon, 
and that you have seen the face of God. That is 
more than the testimony of an angel. When the 
proper time arrives, you shall be able to bear this 
testimony to the world. When you bear testimony 
that you have seen God, this testimony God will 
never suffer to fall, but will bear you out, although 
many will not give heed, yet others will. You will 
therefore see the necessity of getting this testimony 
from heaven. 

" Never cease striving till you have seen God 
face to face. Strengthen your faith ; cast off your 
doubts, your sins, and all your unbelief, and nothing 
can prevent you from coming to God. Your ordi- 
nation is not full and complete till God has laid his 
hands upon you. We require as much to qualify us 
as did those who have gone before us. God is the 
same. If the Saviour in former days laid his hands 
on his disciples, why not in latter days? 

" With regard to superiority, I must make a few 
remarks. The ancient apostles sought to be great ; 
but lest the seeds of discord be sown in this matter, 
understand particularly the voice of the Spirit on 
this occasion. God does not love you better or 
more than others. You are to contend for the faith 
once delivered to the saints. Jacob, you know, 
wrestled till he obtained. It was by fervent prayer 
and diligent search that you have obtained the 
testimony you are now able to bear. You are as 
one; you are equal in bearing the keys of the King- 
dom to all nations. You are called to preach the 
Gospel of the Son of God to the nations of the 
earth; it is the will of your Heavenly Father that 
you proclaim his gospel to the ends of the earth 
and the islands of the sea. 

" Be zealous to save souls. The soul of one man 



I56 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

is as precious as the soul of another. You are to 
bear this message to those who consider themselves 
wise ; and such may persecute you ; they may seek 
your life. The adversary has always sought the life 
of the servants of God. You are therefore to be 
prepared at all times to make a sacrifice of your 
lives, should God require them, in the advancement 
and building up of his cause. Murmur not at God. 
Be always prayerful ; be always watchful. You will 
bear with me while I relieve the feelings of my 
heart. We shall not see another day like this. 
The time has fully come, the voice of the Spirit has 
come, to set these men apart. 

"You will see the time when you will desire to 
see such a day as this, and you will not see it. 
Every heart wishes you peace and prosperity, but 
the scene, with you, will inevitably change. Let no 
man take your bishopric, and beware that you lose 
not your crowns. It will require your whole souls; 
it will require courage like Enoch's. 

" The time is near when you will be in the midst 
of congregations who will gnash their teeth upon 
you. This gospel must roll, and will roll, until it 
fills the whole earth. Did I say congregations 
would gnash upon you ? Yea, I say nations will 
gnash upon you ; you will be considered the worst 
of men. Be not discouraged at this. When God 
pours out his spirit the enemy will rage; but God, 
remember, is on your right hand and on your left. 
A man, though he be considered the worst, has joy 
who is conscious that he pleases God. The lives of 
those who proclaim the true gospel will be in dan- 
ger. This has' been the case ever since the days of 
righteous Abel. The same opposition has been 
manifest whenever men came forward to publish 
the gospel. The time is coming when you will be* 
considered the worst by many, and by some the best 
of men. The time is coming when you will be per- 



LIFE 'OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 57 

fectly familiar with the things of God. This testi- 
mony will make those who do not believe your 
testimony, seek your lives; but there are /whole 
nations who will receive your testimony. They will 
call you good men. Be not lifted up when you are 
called good men. Remember you are young men, 
and you shall be spared. I include the other three. 
Bear them in mind in your prayers; carry their 
cases to a throne of grace. Although they are not 
present, yet you and they are equal. This appoint- 
ment is calculated to create an affection in you for 
each other, stronger than death. You will travel to 
other nations; bear each other in mind. If one or 
more are cast into prison, let the others pray for 
them, and deliver them by their prayers. Your lives 
shall be in great jeopardy, but the promise of God 
is that you shall be delivered. 

" Remember you are not to go to other nations 
till you receive your endowment. Tarry at Kirt- 
land until you are endowed with power from on 
high. You need a fountain of wisdom, knowledge 
and intelligence, such as you never had. Relative 
to the endowment, I made a remark or two that 
there be no mistake. The world cannot receive the 
things of God. He can endow you without worldly 
pomp or great parade. He can give you that wis- 
dom, that intelligence, and that power which char- 
acterized the ancient saints, and now characterizes 
the inhabitants of the upper world. The greatness 
of your commission consists in this : you are to 
hold the keys of this ministry; you are to go to the 
nations afar off, nations that sit in darkness. The 
day is coming when the work of God must be done. 
Israel shall be gathered. The seed of Jacob shall 
be gathered from their long dispersion. There will 
be a feast to Israel, the elect of God. It is a sor- 
rowful tale, but the Gospel must be preached and 
God's ministers be rejected. But where can Israel 



158 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

be found, and receive your testimony, and not re- 
joice? Nowhere! The prophecies are full of great 
things that are to take place in the last days. After 
the elect are gathered out destruction shall come on 
the inhabitants of the earth ; all nations shall feel 
the wrath of God, after they have been warned by 
the saints of the Most High. If you will not warn 
them, others will, and you will lose your crowns. 

"You must prepare your minds to bid a long 
farewell to Kirtland, even till the great day come. 
You will see what you never expected to see; you 
will need the mind of Enoch or Elijah, and the faith 
of the brother of Jared; you must be prepared to 
walk by faith, however appalling the prospect to 
human view; you, and each of you, should feel the 
force of the imperious mandate, ■ Son, go labor in 
my vineyard,' and cheerfully receive what comes ; 
but in the end you will stand while others will fall. 
You have read in the revelation concerning ordina- 
tion : beware how you ordain, for all nations are not 
like this nation. They will willingly receive the 
ordinances at your hands to put you out of the way. 
There will be times when nothing but the angels of 
God can deliver you out of their hands. 

" We appeal to your intelligence, we appeal to 
your understanding, that we have so far discharged 
our duty to you. We consider it one of the great- 
est condescensions of our Heavenly Father in point- 
ing you out to us. You will be stewards over this 
ministry ; you have a work to do that no other men 
can do ; you must proclaim the gospel in its sim- 
plicity and purity ; and we commend you to God 
and the word of his grace. You have our best 
wishes, you have our most fervent prayers, that you 
may be able to bear this testimony, that you have 
seen the face of God. Therefore call upon him in 
faith and mighty prayer till you prevail, for it is 
your duty and your privilege to bear such testimony 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 59 

for yourselves. We now exhort you to be faithful 
to fulfill your calling; there must be no lack here; 
you must fulfill in all things ; and permit us to re- 
peat, all nations have a claim on you ; you are 
bound together as the three witnesses were ; you, 
notwithstanding, can part and meet, and meet and 
part again, till your heads are silvered o'er with age." 

Then taking them separately by the hand, elder 
Cowdery continued : 

" Do you, with full purpose of heart, take part in 
this ministry, to proclaim the gospel with all dili- 
gence, with these your brethren, according to the 
tenor and intent of the charge you have received?" 
Each answered in the affirmative, thus bringing to 
a close the solemn and interesting ceremony. 

At a subsequent meeting the Prophet proposed 
for discussion the following question : — What im- 
portance is there attached to the calling of these 
Twelve Apostles, different from the other callings or 
officers of the Church ? After discussion by several 
of those present, the Prophet gave his decision as 
follows : 

11 They are the Twelve Apostles who are called 
to the office of Traveling High Council, who are to 
preside over all the churches of the saints, among 
the Gentiles, where there is a presidency established; 
and they are to travel and preach among the Gen- 
tiles, until the Lord shall command them to go to 
the Jews. They are to hold the keys of this min- 
istry, to unlock the door of the kingdom of heaven 
unto all nations, and to preach the gospel to every 
creature. This is the power, authority and virtue 
of their apostleships." 



l6o LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

On the 28th of Feb., 1835, the Church, in council 
assembled, commenced selecting certain persons, 
who were ordained and blessed at that time, to 
begin the organization of the " First Quorum of 
the Seventies," according to the plan laid down to 
Joseph in certain revelations and visions, thus com- 
mencing the organization of that grand evangelical 
army of the Church called " The Apostles of the 
Seventies," which may be increased to seven quo- 
rums of Seventies; or, in the words of the revela- 
tion, to "seven times Seventy." 

At a meeting of the Twelve on the evening of 
March 12th, 1835, lt was proposed that they take 
their first mission through the Eastern States, to 
the Atlantic Ocean, and hold conferences in the 
vicinity of the several branches of the Church, for 
the purpose of regulating all things necessary for 
their welfare, and the 4th of May following was 
unanimously agreed upon as the day of departure 
from Kirtland. 

On the 26th of April the Twelve Apostles and 
the Seventies who had been chosen assembled, with 
a numerous concourse of people, in the unfinished 
temple at Kirtland, to receive their charge and in- 
structions from the Prophet, relative to their mis- 
sion and duties. 

At a conference held on the 2d of May, Joseph 
laid down the order of the Twelve when in council, 
which was to take their seats together according to 
age, — the oldest to be seated at the head, and pre- 
side in the first council, the next oldest in the 
second, and so on until the youngest had presided,' 
and then begin at the oldest again, etc. Thus 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. l6l 

determined, the order of the Twelve at that time 
was : Thomas B. Marsh, David W. Patten, Brigham 
Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, William E. 
McLellin, Parley P. Pratt, Luke Johnson, William 
Smith, Orson Pratt, John F. Boynton, Lyman E. 
Johnson. 

The interesting episode of anointing and bless- 
ing the first Patriarch of the Church, with the 
marvelous manifestations which then occurred, is 
spoken of by Joseph, as follows : 

"At early candle-light [Jan. 21st, 1836], I met 
with the Presidency at the west school-room, in the 
Temple [unfinished], to attend to the ordinance of 
anointing our heads with holy oil ; also the councils 
of Kirtland and Zion met in the two adjoining 
rooms, waiting in prayer while we attended to the 
ordinance. I took the oil in my left hand, father 
Smith being seated before me, and the other mem- 
bers of the Presidency encircled him round about. 
We then stretched our right hands towards heaven, 
and blessed the oil and consecrated it in the name 
of Jesus Christ. 

" We then laid our hands upon our aged father 
Smith, and invoked the blessings of heaven. I then 
anointed his head with the consecrated oil, and 
sealed many blessings upon him. The Presidency 
then in turn laid their hands upon his head, begin- 
ning at the eldest, until they had all laid their hands 
upon him, and pronounced such blessings upon his 
head as the Lord put into their hearts, — all blessing 
him to be our Patriarch, to anoint our heads and 
attend to all duties that pertain to that office. The 
Presidency then took the seat in turn, according to 

1 1 



1 62 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

age, beginning at the eldest, and received their 
anointing and blessing under the hands of father 
Smith. And in my turn my father anointed my 
head, and sealed upon me the blessings of Moses to 
lead Israel in the latter-days, even as Moses led him 
in days of old ; also the blessings of Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob. All of the Presidency laid their 
hands upon me, and pronounced upon my head 
many prophecies and blessings. 

" The heavens were opened upon us, and I beheld 
the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof, 
whether in the body or out, I cannot tell. I saw 
the transcendent beauty of the gate through which 
the heirs of that kingdom will enter, which was like 
unto circling flames of fire; also the blazing throne 
of God, whereon was seated the Father and the 
Son. I saw the beautiful streets of that kingdom, 
which had the appearance of being paved with gold. 
I saw fathers Adam and Abraham, and my father 
and mother, my brother Alvin, that has long since 
slept, and marveled how it was that he had obtained 
an inheritance in that kingdom, seeing that he had 
departed this life before the Lord had set his hand 
to gather Israel the second time, and had not been 
baptized for the remission of sins. 

"Thus came the voice of the Lord unto me, 
saying : 

" < All who have died without a knowledge of this 
gospel, who would have received it if they had 
been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celes- 
tial kingdom of God ; also all that shall die hence- 
forth without a knowledge of it, who would have 
received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 163 

that kingdom, for I, the Lord, will judge all men 
according to their works, according to the desire of 
their hearts.' 

u And I also beheld that all children who die 
before they arrive at the years of accountability, are 
saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven. I saw 
the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb, who are now 
upon the earth, who hold the keys of this last min- 
istry, in foreign lands, standing together in a circle, 
much fatigued, with their clothes tattered and feet 
swollen, with their eyes cast downward, and Jesus 
standing in their midst, and they did not behold 
him. The Saviour looked upon them and wept. 

" I also beheld elder McLellin in the south, stand- 
ing upon a hill, surrounded by a vast multitude, 
preaching to them, and a lame man standing before 
him, supported by his crutches. He threw them 
down at his word, and leaped as an hart, by the 
mighty power of God. Also elder Brigham Young, 
standing in a strange land, in the far south and 
west, in a desert place, upon a rock in the midst of 
about a dozen men of color, who appeared hostile. 
He was preaching to them in their own tongue, and 
the angel of God standing above his head, with a 
drawn sword in his hand, protecting him, but he 
did not see it. And I finally saw the Twelve in the 
celestial kingdom of God. I also beheld the re- 
demption of Zion, and many things which the 
tongue of man cannot describe in full 

"Many of my brethren who received the ordi- 
nance with me saw glorious visions also. Angels 
ministered unto them, as well as myself, and the 
power of the Highest rested upon us, the house 



164 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

was filled with the glory of God, and we shouted 
Hosannah to God and the Lamb." 

On the following evening the ceremony of an- 
ointing the heads of the Twelve, and the presi- 
dency of the Seventy, was attended to. At the 
close, says Joseph," President Rigdon arose to con- 
clude the services of the evening by invoking the 
benediction of heaven upon the Lord's anointed, 
which he did in an eloquent manner. The congre- 
gation shouted a long hosannah ; the gift of tongues 
fell upon us in mighty power; angels mingled their 
voices with ours, while their presence was in our 
midst, and unceasing praises swelled our bosoms for 
the space of half an hour." 

Under such auspicious outpourings of the Spirit 
were the Twelve ushered into the work of their high 
calling. 

They, with the Seventies, being now chosen to go 
"into all the earth," to preach the "fullness of the 
gospel," and gather a Latter-day Israel from among 
the nations, we can now proceed to unfold the divine 
economy of Mormonism, review the Israelitish 
genius and subject of the work, and dwell upon the 
vast plans and themes developed by the Prophet in 
his exalted moods of inspiration. Subsequently we 
shall see them illustrated in the actual history of 
himself and people, — fulfilling his visions in the very 
events of the age. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE MORMON ILIAD THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT 

ITS INFINITE SCOPE AND SIGNIFICANCE ITS RE- 
NEWAL WITH JOSEPH AND HIS ISRAEL. 

Jehovah's epic ! 

There is no other defining that will adequately 
express the subject and themes grasped by the 
genius of the Mormon Prophet. 

The covenant of old, which Jehovah made with 
the Hebrew sires, renewed in Joseph and his people. 

A covenant that has come down in the august 
syllabling of three civilizations. 

A covenant, not in its incipiency to-day, but now 
working towards its millennial consummation. 

Former-day Israel and Latter-day Israel have 
thus the same centre of faith in this covenant made 
by Jehovah with Abraham, and the same consum- 
mation of that faith in the coming of Messiah and 
the restoration of the kingdom to Israel. 

The strictly Israelitish genius of Mormonism thus 
emphasized at the outset, we are prepared to review 
the Abrahamic theme in its everlasting sweep, and 
to apply it to the peculiar experience of Israel in 
the former and the latter days. 

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, " Get thee 



I 66 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from 
thy father's house, unto a land that I will show 
thee," etc. 

But the Hebrew Patriarch has written his own 
history. It is contained in the "Book of Abraham," 
translated by the Prophet Joseph. 

This extraordinary book has entered largely into 
Mormon theology, and has given pronouncement to 
some of its most beautiful themes. 

In the land of the Chaldeans, in the house of his 
father, Abraham saw that it was needful for him to 
obtain another abiding place, in consequence of the 
idolatry that surrounded him. He had come of the 
sacred lineage to which belonged the Priesthood, 
and was himself "a High Priest, holding the right 
belonging to the fathers." " It was conferred upon 
me," he says, " from the fathers; it came down from 
the fathers from the beginning of time. 

" I sought for mine appointment unto the priest- 
hood according to the appointment of God unto the 
fathers concerning the. seed. My fathers having 
turned from their righteousness, and from the holy 
commandments which the Lord their God had given 
unto them, unto the worshipping of the gods of the 
heathen, utterly refused to hearken to my voice." 

Therefore the Lord had said unto Abraham, "Get 
thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and 
from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show 
thee." 

Moses in his record is not circumstantial touching 
the immediate cause of this command to Abraham, 
yet he was doubtless familiar therewith. It is - 
certain that Mahomet, the prophet of Ishm^el, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 167 

understood it as rendered by Joseph, for he opens 
the Koran with this annunciation of faith : 

" We believe in Abraham, the orthodox, who was 
no idolater." 

Jehovah commanded Abraham to leave the land 
of idolatry, that he might establish in his ministry 
and race his own supreme name. For this made he 
the covenant with Abraham. 

According to Joseph's revelations, the covenant 
was simply renewed in Abraham, and not origi- 
nated. Like the priesthood with which it is con- 
nected, it had come down to the Hebrew sire from 
the righteous fathers. It was first made with Adam. 

From Jehovah it came to the Patriarch of the 
Earth, for Jehovah is the God of the covenant. 
From Adam to Seth, Enoch and Noah; being sev- 
eral times renewed by the Lord before the days of 
Abraham. The same also is this which has been 
renewed in Joseph in these latter days. 

Both the priesthood and the covenant existed 
before the beginning of time or the creation of the 
earth. They are not of time, but of eternity, — the 
everlasting chains which link the heavens and the 
earth, and connect the race of mortals with the races 
of immortals that have gone up into their exalta- 
tion before them. 

Thus has Joseph enlarged our conceptions of the 
priesthood, of the covenant, of religion. 

The signature of the Everlasting is on the whole. 

Interpreted by the genius that inspired Joseph, 
the everlasting covenant has an infinite scope and 
significance. In the action of his own dispensation 
he shows us the very face of the covenant which 



1 68 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Jehovah renewed in Abraham, and reveals it as the 
covenant that had come down through generations 
of worlds. 

This reveals a Book of God, in the light of 
which the gorgeous mythologies of the heathen 
were indeed but as fables. But how infinitely well 
does this harmonize with the ages past. 

Of old the gods of Olympus had their epic. 
Grecian mythology incarnates it. Homer, with 
wondrous success, embodied it in a great poem. 
He was its Prophet. His Iliad is the Bible of the 
Greeks. 

But it was left to Joseph to incarnate the epic of 
Jehovah ! Not even did Moses as much as he, for 
he has swept the whole subject, with its themes, 
down to the "dispensation of the fullness of times," 
with Jesus not less than Moses as the expounder 
and fulfiller of the covenant. 

The Mormon Prophet is the only religious law- 
giver that has arisen in a thousand years who has 
attempted to construct an epic system of faith. The 
very word epic, in modern times, has lost nearly all 
its meaning. Even the poets have ceased to work 
upon the conception ; yet has Joseph made it so 
vast, with Jehovah as the inspiring genius, that it 
swallows up all the conceptions of the ancients. 

But follow we Moses again, with whom the reader 
will be most familiar, 



"And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, 
the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I 
am the Almighty God. Walk before me, and be 
thou perfect. * * * 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 69 

" Behold my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt 
be a father of many nations. 

" Neither shall thy name any more be called 
Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham ; for a 
father of many nations have I made thee. 

" And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I 
will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out 
of thee. 

" And I will establish my covenant between me 
and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations, 
for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee 
and thy seed after thee." 

The covenant is thus seen to be a race covenant, 
and the Abrahamic religion a race religion. Thus 
in Adam ; thus in Noah; thus in the Hebrew sire. 
These appear to be the patriarchal trinity of the 
earth. 

In this covenant came woman with man, as at the 
beginning : " Be fruitful and multiply and replenish 
the earth " with a chosen seed, in whom Jehovah 
shall fulfill his matchless purposes. 

At first, Adam and Eve ; afterwards Abraham 
and Sarah. 

But Sarah for a time was as a barren tree. As a 
woman in old age yearning for the hope of her 
youth, went she, — the mother of the covenant, — 
toward the grave with an unfulfilled covenant upon 
her head. Then gave she unto Abraham her hand- 
maid Hagar, that the covenant of the Lord might 
not be void. For the Lord had said unto him : 

" I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth : 
so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, 
then shall thy seed also be numbered. 



I70 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

The divine story is continued in Sarah and Hagar, 
with their sons Isaac and Ishmael: 

" And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy 
wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah 
shall her name be. 

" And I will bless her, and give thee a son of her: 
yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of 
nations ; kings of people shall be of her. 

" Then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed, 
and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him 
that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is 
ninety years old, bear? 

" And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael 
might live before thee ! 

" And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a 
son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and 
I will establish my covenant with him, for an ever- 
lasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 

"And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold 
I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and 
will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall 
he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 

" But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, 
which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in 
the next year." 

What an imperial sweep is here ! Can any ques- 
tion what religion meant between Abraham and his 
God? 

Nations and kings were to come of the Hebrew 
patriarch! Empires were to be born of him ! Civ- 
ilizations were to proceed from the two lines of his 
sons, Isaac and Ishmael, in which all the nations of 
the earth should be embraced. None of the gods 
of the heathen ever conceived an economy so vast, 
or undertook purposes so universal. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 171 

Jehovah has indeed shown himself supreme ; and 
the fact that he has renewed the whole in Joseph 
and his latter-day Israel, proves that he has not 
forgotten his covenant nor given up his wondrous 
purposes. 

In Isaac and Jacob the oath of Jehovah was con- 
tinued. In Jacob the tribes of the chosen race were 
defined. Of him the Twelve Patriarchs. In him 
the nationality of Israel was born. 

Down into Egypt next, there to remain until 
Israel became a people in whom Jehovah could 
show the majesty of his will and the might of his 
arm. 

A people in slavery making bricks for their task- 
masters "without straw;" yet a people with a mar- 
velous destiny upon their heads. 

Then a Moses leading Israel out of Egypt, with 
the Angel of the Covenant going before the sacred 
people, delivering them with the outstretched arm 
of Jehovah's power, and with signs and wonders that 
appal the hosts of Pharaoh. 

Afterwards Moses with Israel in the wilderness. 
There they abide for a generation before entering 
the land of promise, that their commonwealth might 
be unfolded and the law revealed. 

And lastly, as the grandest act of all in the Mosaic 
drama, we come to Moses bringing all Israel under 
the covenant made with their fathers, Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob. 

" Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord 
your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, 
and your officers, with all the men of Israel. 



172 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger 
that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood 
unto the drawer of thy water: 

" That thou shouldst enter into covenant with the 
Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord 
thy God maketh with thee this day: 

11 That he may establish thee to-day for a people 
unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, 
as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn un- 
to thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 
* * * # •* # 

" And it shall come to pass if thou shalt hearken 
diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to 
observe and do all his commandments which I com- 
mand thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set 
thee on high above all nations of the earth. * * 

" And the Lord shall establish thee a holy people 
unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou 
shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, 
and walk in his ways. 

" And all the people of the earth shall see that 
thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they 
shall be afraid of thee. * * * 

"And the Lord shall make thee head, and not 
the tail ; and thou shalt be above only, and thou 
shalt not be beneath." 

Thus began Jehovah's covenant with Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob ; thus was it continued with Moses 
and the Prophets; and thus has it been renewed 
with Joseph and his Israel in these latter-days. 



Marvelous, indeed, that a covenant belonging to 
the early ages of man, — a covenant which seemed 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 73 

to have died with the nationality of Israel before 
the Christian era began, — should suddenly revive in 
all its ancient force in the religion and action of the 
Nineteenth Century. 

Quite as wonderful that it should spring up in 
America, where civilizations are culminating and all 
things are becoming new. 

Yet did our Prophet render the covenant as lit- 
erally in the dispensation that was given unto him, 
as it was rendered in Israel by the great Hebrew 
lawgiver more than three thousand years ago. 

A wondrously dramatic picture was that of Moses 
just before his death, bringing all Israel under the 
covenant and into the oath of Jehovah. It has 
scarcely a parallel in all history. It has none, 
certainly, excepting that given by the Mormon 
people. 

But not more wonderful was the example of Moses 
and ancient Israel, in the wilderness by the Red Sea, 
than was that of Joseph, in Kirtland, in the very 
midst of the Gentiles, bringing his modern Israel 
under the covenant and " into the oath of the 
Lord." 

More marked is this, from the very anomaly of 
the surroundings and the inharmony of the times. 
It is a unique that carries the imagination directly 
back to the days of the patriarchs of the earth. 
They come up from the past as gods risen to renew 
their work in the action of the present. 

None but the genius of Jehovah could have in- 
spired such a dispensation as that which Joseph 
opened. 

The covenant is no accident, nor an incidental 



174 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

filling in of a new faith. It is the very basis of the 
religion, and its genius gives all the volume and 
tone of the history of the Latter-day people. 

Joseph began, not with Jesus and his apostles, but 
with Jehovah and Abraham. Isaac and Jacob, in 
whom the oath of the Lord was confirmed and the 
sacred nation begat, stood to our Prophet before 
Peter and Paul, in the divine purposes. 

True, the dispensation of Jesus was brought into 
the infinite embrace of Mormonism as one superior 
to that of Moses and the Prophets; but the works 
of the Father are considered before the works of 
the Son, and the name of the Father honored first. 
Thus did Jesus himself. 

In Jehovah, not Jesus, is the origin of the ever- 
lasting covenant and priesthood. Surely this is not 
blasphemy. It is truly a significant sign of the 
heathenish spirit of Romish Christianity, that any 
disciple of Hebrew faith should find it necessary to 
thus guard the mighty God of Israel. 

Jesus honored the Father. Constant was his 
affirmation that he came not in his own name, but 
in the name of the Father; not to do his own will, 
but the will of him that sent him: " Father, not my 
will but thine be done !" 

So began Joseph the faith of the saints in Je- 
hovah — the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

Therefore commenced he with the covenant 
which Jehovah made with Abraham, and which has 
been renewed in a Latter-day Israel. 

Be this ever understood as the Alpha of Mor- 
monism — the beginning of the "dispensation of the 
fullness of times." 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 75 

Joseph well taught the saints the wondrous sig- 
nificance and design of the covenant into which 
they had entered; and in 1836 already had thou- 
sands obeyed its initial command: "Get thee out 
of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy 
father's house, unto a land that I will show thee." 

This was what the rise of Zion in Kirtland signi- 
fied, the gathering together of a Latter Day 
Israel from many lands and climes, in fulfillment 
of prophecy concerning this dispensation. 

The command had been well obeyed in 1836. 
The saints, as we have seen, had gathered in the 
two States of Ohio and Missouri; Zion had risen in 
Kirtland ; a temple was being reared ; the apostle- 
ship was about to be conferred, and the design to 
send the twelve to foreign nations to gather an 
Israel was already revolving in the Prophet's mind. 
Tens of thousands in Great Britain were soon to 
hear Jehovah's command: "Get thee out of thy 
country ! " 

And the design was the same as of old: " That I, 
the God of Israel, may be the God of this people, 
and in them fulfill my everlasting purposes!" 

And what of Jehovah's promises unto such a 
people ? Shall not the God of Latter-day Israel 
keep his part and fulfill his oath as of old ? Yea, 
verily; and the words of that everlasting oath are in 
force to them : 



"And I will make of thee a great nation, and I 
will bless thee and make thy name great : and thou 
shalt be a blessing: 

"A_nd I will bless them that bless thee and curse 



176 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

him that curseth thee : and in thee shall all families 
of the earth be blessed." 

Again it is a promised nationality to an Israel. 
And now the people known as Mormons are that 
Israel. The oath, made unto them by him who has 
covenanted with them to be their God, means all 
this and nothing less. 



CHAPTER XV. 

JOSEPH THE REVELATOR OF CHRIST, AND APOSTLE OF 
THE COVENANTS A WITNESS TO THIS GENERA- 
TION — TESTIMONY OF THE LIVING TO THE LIV- 
ING IMMORTALITY THE ALL-ABSORBING QUES- 
TION OF MODERN TIMES ITS AFFIRMATION BY 

JOSEPH. 

But the chief significance of the apostleship of 
Joseph resides in the fact that he is the revelator of 
Jesus Christ to our own age. 

Not as an echo of the word of God from the 
past, but as the living testament of Jesus to the 
present. 

Nor as an apostle of Abraham, but of Christ ; 
nor as a minister of the imperfect law of Moses, 
which was given as a "schoolmaster" to rebellious 
Israel, but as the minister of the perfect law revealed 
through the " Only Begotten" of the Father. 

Yet in Christ is the fulfillment of all the cove- 
nants of Jehovah made unto the patriarchs of the 
earth. 

Therefore, being the chief minister of Christ in 
these last days, Joseph is an apostle of the cove- 
nants. 

But as the revelator of Jesus unto the world, and 

12 



178 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

not as the instrument of archangels even, has Joseph 
come. 

As Jesus, in the days of his flesh, was the reve- 
lator of the Father, so was Joseph the revelator of 
the Son, in the ministry of his resurrection. 

Not a minister upon the testimony of apostles 
given eighteen hundred years ago, but a witness 
proceeding from Christ in our own day: a special 
witness to the world of the ministry and resurrec- 
tion of Jesus: the revelator of the new and ever- 
lasting covenant to Israel: the revelator again of 
God to man, continuing the testimony which Jesus 
bore of the Father: the messenger of God, pro- 
claiming to mankind a present revelation and a 
living gospel. 

Be it therefore declared unto all that Joseph, to 
modern times, is as the new testament of Jesus 
Christ, "who was before preached unto us:" that 
Jesus concerning whose ministry and resurrection 
the faith of all Christendom was but as a tradition, 
handed down through the ages of apostacy, in which 
the heavens uttered no certain voice. 

Nigh two thousand years had passed since the 
Christian church as much as claimed a revelator. 

The very name of Prophet was obsolete in cur- 
rent language. 

The Prophet was a personage of the past : to the 
people he was as the fabled unicorn. 

One sent of God, shocked the faith both of priest 
and people ; and the ministration of angels in the 
experience of the disciples of Christ in our own 
times was considered more pernicious than the fables 
of the heathen. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. I 79 

Thus was it to the day that the Prophet Joseph 
came, and it was this condition of the churches that 
consigned him at last to the martyr's grave. 

Verily the world hath need that Christ be again 
revealed unto it. Else how shall immortality, to us ? 
be brought to light ? How shall eternal life abide 
in man ? 

For this was Joseph sent of God into the world. 

To be a special witness of the Father and his Son 
Jesus Christ was he sent unto us. 

The living to the living, with the word of God. 
A present revelation of the existence and work of 
Christ. 

Was not this the beginning of Joseph's testimony 
in these latter days ? Was not his first vision a wit- 
nessing of the Father and his only begotten Son ? 

Herein is the supreme meaning of Joseph's min- 
istry, and the worth of his apostleship. 

But Joseph knew not at first the world's need of 
such a testimony. Hence was he astonished when 
Jesus told him that he acknowledged none of the 
sects who bore his name. 

And the very reason assigned by the Lord was 
that the churches with their priests were not living 
witnesses of him. Theirs was no present testament 
of their Lord. 

" They draw near to me with their lips and honor 
me with their mouths while their hearts are far from 
me ; and they teach for doctrine the commandments 
of men." 

Although there were some among them whose 
love for God was not stultified by their creeds, the 
above declaration proved only too true; for soon 



l8o LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

indeed did they reject the living witness sent unto 
them. 

But it is to the great vision given to Joseph, and 
Sidney Rigdon (see Chap. XL), that we must go 
for the formal testimony of Jesus, sent forth to the 
whole world in these last days by divine command: 

"We, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, being in 
the spirit, on the 16th of February, in the year of 
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty- 
two, by the power of the Spirit our eyes were 
opened, and our understandings were enlightened, 
so as to see and understand the things of God — 
even those things which were from the beginning 
before the world was, which were ordained of the 
Father, through his only begotten Son, who was in 
the bosom of the Father, even from the beginning; 
of whom we bear record, and the record which we 
bear is the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 
who is the Son, whom we saw and with whom we 
conversed in the heavenly vision. * * * And 
now, after the many testimonies which have been 
given of him, this is the testimony last of all which 
we give of him, that he lives : for we saw him." * * 

This then is "the fullness of the gospel of Jesus 
Christ:" — the revelation of Jesus to the people in 
their own generation / 

Nothing less than this is "the fullness of the 
gospel." 

Has not Joseph, in this view, blazed forth the light 
of God upon the world ? 

And it is the revelation of Jesus Christ, through 
witnesses and apostles who have seen him and heard 
.he wondrous affirmation of himself from his own 
voice. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. l8l 

T.hese can bear testimony that he still lives and is 
the great High Priest and mediator of the everlast- 
ing covenant. 

Not enough for the spiritual life of the world that 
he was preached unto the people ages ago ; not 
enough that his resurrection was witnessed unto the 
Gentiles by those who saw him after the crucifixion. 

Stephen, the martyr, saw the heavens open, and 
beheld the Son sitting on the right hand of the 
Father. But the modern world will not be judged 
by the testimony of Stephen. 

Not Peter ! Not Paul ! Not Stephen ! 

They are not sufficient witnesses to us of the 
resurrection of Jesus, though they were wondrous 
witnesses to their own generation. 

Christ will not judge the modern world by their 
testimony. 

A revelator to declare his present existence ! 
Apostles to declare the continuation of his work in 
his own person ! These are the chief spiritual 
needs of the world to-day. 

Of what avail to us is the testimony of the past? 
or what doth it profit us that they who are now dead 
bore witness, in the ancient times, concerning the 
resurrection of their Master. 

If they witness to us to-day, as did Moroni, or as 
did Peter, James, John, and Moses and Elias, to 
Joseph, then are they ministering angels to the 
present : if they do not so witness, then are they 
neither ministering angels nor apostles to us. 

In this view the Prophet Joseph has enunciated 
sterling truths that ought never to expire in the 
faith of the race. Rightly has he declared the 



l82 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

continuation of the testimony of Jesus, by present 
revelation, to be "the fullness of the gospel." For if 
Christ be not risen in our own experience, then have 
we but a dead faith. 

If the living, who have believed on his name, 
have not seen him, nor any stood in his presence 
for nigh two thousand years, then is Christ dead 
indeed to us. 

What shall it profit the world that he was cruci- 
fied if he be not risen from the dead? 

Is not this the very question that the apostle Paul 
brought home to the saints in his day? And the 
whole burden of his testimony was, "Am not I an 
apostle? Have I not seen the Lord?" 

It was the fact that he had seen his Lord that 
made him an apostle of his resurrection. It gave 
the force to his apostleship. It was the testimony 
of the living to the living, else had it been but the 
dead record that he bore and not the living word of 
a special witness. 

And that which was true in spiritual philosophy 
in the days of the apostle Paul, is true in the days 
of the prophet Joseph. 

If for seventeen centuries the world has been 
without a special witness of Jesus, then is it the 
simple truth that the so-called Christian world has 
been without knowledge of God and his Christ. 

" I am sick of the name of this man Jesus!" ex- 
claimed a famous infidel, in conscientious disgust. 

But he was sick of the sacred name of Jesus only 
in that his personal existence in the present was not 
a fact to his intellect. 

Had Christ been indeed risen from the dead in 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 183 

the actual knowledge of the churches who bore his 
name, then had this man (with evidence of that fact) 
been quickly at the feet of his Lord. 

Is it enough to be^et the faith of intellect that 
men testified of the resurrection of Christ eighteen 
centuries ago ? Verily nay. 

Yet to none could the knowledge of immortality 
possibly come more welcome than to the infidel. 
Infidelity is the very cross of the skeptic, and not 
his throne. 

And this question of immortality has become the 
all-absorbing question of modern times. 

" Shall we live again ? " Ah, the intellectual 
agony that racks the human mind, on that point, 
to-day ! 

If Christ be living to-day, then shall the countless 
millions live after the grave has swallowed up their 
corruptible bodies. Intellect reaches such a con- 
clusion at a leap, and, in spite of the agonies of 
doubt, exults at least in that certainty. 

A revelator, then, such as Joseph Smith was, is 
truly the one person needful to this all-enquiring 
age, over which the priests of a dead record of im- 
mortality have no longer sufficient influence to wrap 
even the rags of sectarian faith around the body of 
society. 

But this is the fullness of the gospel to us — this 
revelation of Jesus in our own times. 

" And now, after the many testimonies which have 
been given of him, this is the testimony last of all 
which we give of him, that he lives ! " 



184 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Let this testimony of Joseph Smith and Sidney 
Rigdon fairly come before the best intellects of the 
age. 'Tis the new, testament of Jesus Christ to the 
Nineteenth Century. 

And the Prophet, at the period of which we write, 
was about to call his twelve apostles, to send them 
forth to the nations, to preach the fullness of such 
a gospel ; and with them went also the promise of 
the Holy Ghost to the believer, as the endowment 
from on high, to accompany this living word of God. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

TYPE AND MISSION OF THE SAINTS REARING A TEM- 
PLE TO THE GOD OF ISRAEL DESCRIPTION OF 

THE TEMPLE THE DEDICATION JOSEPH'S GREAT 

PRAYER ADMINISTRATION OF ANGELS THE 

VOICE OF JEHOVAH VISIONS OF MOSES, ELIAS 

AND ELIJAH. 

By the time Kirtland was built up the saints 
thoroughly understood their type and mission as 
the Latter-day Israel ; and with an exultation that 
had been worthy ancient Israel, they dwelt upon the 
promises renewed unto them by the oath of the 
mighty God of Jacob. 

Their destiny was clearly defined by the prophetic 
genius of their great founder, the divine text of 
which, applied to them as a people, was — 

" The Lord shall establish thee a holy people 
unto himself; and make thee the head and not the 
tail, and thou shalt be above only ; and thou shalt 
not be beneath ; if that thou hearken unto the com- 
mandments of the Lord thy God, which I command 
thee this day, to observe and do them." 

Therefore the saints in their Zion had reared a 
temple to the august name of the God of Israel — 
the author of their covenant. 



1 86 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

And this temple-building in America was inspired 
by the same genius as that which gave the covenant 
a renewal. 

The spirit of Jehovah o'ershadowed the temple. 
An ancient, not a modern, meaning was in it. It 
was Hebraic in its prophecy and symbol, Hebraic in 
its priesthood and order of worship. 

Rome, the mother of Christendom, had built her 
gorgeous cathedral to the name of St. Peter ; her 
daughter, the English Church, had built a monu- 
ment of worship scarcely less imposing, dedicated to 
the name of St. Paul ; Europe had, in fact, been 
crowded with cathedrals, churches and chapels, 
bearing the names of a legion of Romish Saints and 
Protestant Reformers. 

But no monument had been reared to the name 
of Israel's God! 

A majesty, borrowed from Heathendom, Rome 
sanctified with the name of Jesus the son of David, 
to the very rivalry of that God who gave the sceptre 
unto Judah's hand. 

Rome had done all for herself, nothing for Jeru- 
salem ! 

It had been a most pertinent question : "Which 
of all the gods do Gentile Christians worship?" 

But Jehovah had again raised up a prophet. 
Again had he an Israel in the earth, with a living 
covenant in force and a present oath to fulfill. 

Joseph was literally restoring the almost forgotten 
glory of Israel ! The angels of dispensations gave 
him the keys of Israel's restoration. So did Joseph, 
now first of all, restore the God of Israel, that the 
nations might worship him, and symbolized his 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 187 

majesty and dominion in the future by a temple 
dedicated to his name. 

Tis a wondrous example ! Who can mistake its 
meaning? 

" Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall 
prepare the way before me : and the Lord, whom ye. 
seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the 
messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in : 
behold he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts." 

The restoration of the supreme name of Jehovah; 
the ministration of his will to the nations, and the 
speedy coming of Messiah as King of Zion, were 
the very symbolism of that temple which arose in 
Kirtland, proclaiming a new dispensation. 

" It (the temple) was commenced," says Eliza R. 
Snow, " in June, 1833, under the immediate direction 
of the Almighty, through his servant, Joseph Smith, 
whom he had called in his boyhood, like Samuel of 
old, to introduce the fullness of the everlasting 
gospel. 

" At that time the saints were few in number, and 
most of them very poor; and had it not been for 
the assurance that God had spoken, and had com- 
manded that a house should be built to his name, of 
which he not only revealed the form, but also desig- 
nated the dimensions, an attempt towards building 
that temple, under the then existing circumstances, 
would have been, by all concerned, pronounced pre- 
posterous. 

" Although many sections of the world abounded 
with mosques, churches, synagogues and cathedrals, 
built professedly for worship, this was the first 



1 88 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

instance, for the lapse of many centuries, of God 
having given a pattern, from the heavens, and man- 
ifested by direct revelation how the edifice should 
be constructed, in order that he might accept and 
acknowledge it as his own. This knowledge in- 
spired the saints to almost superhuman efforts, while 
through faith and union they acquired strength. 
In comparison with eastern churches and cathedrals, 
this temple is not large, but in view of the amount 
of available means possessed, a calculation of the 
cost, at the lowest possible figures, would have stag- 
gered the faith of any but Latter-day saints ; and it 
now stands as a monumental pillar. 

" Its dimensions are eighty by fifty-nine feet ; the 
walls fifty feet high, and the tower one hundred and 
ten feet. The two main halls are fifty-five by sixty- 
five feet, in the inner court. The building has four 
vestries in front, and five rooms in the attic, which, 
were devoted to literature and for meetings of the 
various quorums of the priesthood. 

"There was a peculiarity in the arrangement of 
the inner court which made it more than ordinarily 
impressive — so much so that a sense of sacred awe 
seemed to rest upon all who entered. Not only the 
saints, but strangers also, manifested a high degree 
of reverential feeling. Four pulpits stood, one 
above another, in the centre of the building, from 
north to south, both on the east and west ends ; 
those on the west for the presiding officers of the 
Melchisidec priesthood, and those on the east for 
the Aaronic ; and each of these pulpits was sepa- 
rated by curtains of white painted canvas, which' 
were let down and drawn up at pleasure. In front 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 89 

of each of these two rows of pulpits was a sacra- 
ment table, for the administration of that sacred 
ordinance. In each corner of the court was an 
elevated pew for the singers — the choir being dis- 
tributed into four compartmencs. In addition to the 
pulpit curtains were others, intersecting at right 
angles, which divided the main ground-floor hall 
into four equal sections, giving to each one-half of 
one set of pulpits. 

" From the day the ground was broken for laying 
the foundation of the temple, until its dedication on 
the 27th of March, 1836, the work was vigorously 
prosecuted. 

"With very little capital except brain, bone and 
sinew, combined with unwavering trust in God, 
men, women, and even children, worked with their 
might. While the brethren labored in their depart- 
ments, the sisters were actively engaged in boarding 
and clothing workmen not otherwise provided for— 
all living as abstemiously as possible, so that every 
cent might be appropriated to the grand object, 
while their energies were stimulated by the prospect 
of participating in the blessing of a house built by 
the direction of the Most High, and accepted by 
him. 

" The dedication was looked forward to with in, 
tense interest, and when the day arrived (Sunday, 
March 27th, 1836) a dense multitude assembled, 
The temple was filled to its utmost, and when the 
ushers were compelled to close the doors, the out' 
side congregation was nearly, if not quite, as large 
as that within. * * * 

" At the hour appointed the assembly was seated v 



I90 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

and at nine o'clock President Sidney Rigdon com- 
menced the services of the day by reading the 
ninety-sixth and twenty-fourth Psalms." 

After the preliminary exercises, President Rigdon 
delivered a discourse from the 18th, 19th and 20th 
verses of the nineteenth chapter of Matthew, which 
was spoken of by Joseph as being "very forcible 
and sublime." 

The morning and afternoon services were divided 
by an intermission of twenty minutes, during which 
the congregation remained seated. The afternoon 
service began by the singing of " Adam-ondi-ahman," 
which may be interpreted as the Song of Adam. 
And to those present who understood something of 
the grand patriarchal order of the heavens, to be 
restored under the ministry of Adam, — " the Ancient 
of Days," — this patriarchal song must have possessed 
a very peculiar significance. 

Concerning the services which followed, Joseph 
says*. 

" I then made a short address, and called upon 
the several quorums, and all the congregation of 
saints, to acknowledge the Presidency as Prophets 
and Seers, and uphold them by their prayers. They 
all covenanted to do so, by rising." 

He then called upon the quorums and the con- 
gregation to acknowledge and uphold the Twelve 
Apostles, the Presidents of the Seventies, the High 
Council of Kirtland, the Bishops of Kirtland and 
Zion and their councilors, the High Councilof Zion, 
the President of the Elders and his councilors, and 
the President of the Priests, Teachers, and Deacons, 
and their councilors. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 191 

'• The vote was unanimous in every instance," says 
Joseph, "and I prophesied to all that inasmuch as 
they would uphold these men in their several sta- 
tions, the Lord would bless them ; yea, in the name 
of Christ, the blessings of heaven shall be yours ; 
and when the Lord's anointed go forth to proclaim 
the word, bearing testimony to this generation, if 
thev receive it they shall be blessed ; but if not, the 
judgments of God will follow close upon them, until 
that city or that house which rejects them shall be 
left desolate." 

After singing by the congregation, Joseph ottered 
the following dedicatory prayer : 



" Thanks be to thy name. O Lord God of Israel, 
who keepest covenant, and showest mercy unto thy 
servants who walk uprightly before thee, with all 
their hearts; thou who hast commanded thy servants 
to build a house to thy name in this place. And 
now thou beholdest. O Lord, that thy servants have 
done according to thy commandment. And now we 
ask thee, Holy Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, 
the son of thy bosom, in whose name alone salva- 
tion can be administered to the children of men, we 
ask thee, O Lord, to accept of this house, the work- 
manship of the hands of us, thy servants, which 
thou didst command us to build ; for thou knowest 
that we have done this work through great tribula- 
tion ; and oat of our poverty we have given of our 
substance, to build a house to thy name, that the 
Son of Man might have a place to manifest himself 
to his people. And as thou hast said in a revelation, 
given to us, calling us thy friends, saying, 'call your 
solemn assembly, as I have commanded you ; and 
as all have not faith, seek ye diligently, and teach 
one another words of wisdom ; yea, seek ye. out of 



I92 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the best books, words of wisdom ; seek learning even 
by study, and also by faith. Organize yourselves; 
prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, 
even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house 
of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a 
house of order, a house of God. That your incom- 
ings may be in the name of the Lord, that your 
outgoings may be in the name of the Lord, that all 
your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, 
with uplifted hands to the Most High.' 

"And now, Holy Father, we ask thee to assist us, 
thy people, with thy grace, in calling our solemn 
assembly, that it may be done to thy honor, and to 
thy divine acceptance. And in a manner that we 
may be found worthy in thy sight to secure a ful- 
fillment of the promises which thou hast made unto 
us, thy people, in the revelations given unto us; 
that thy glory may rest down upon thy people, and 
upon this thy house, which we now dedicate to thee, 
that it may be sanctified and consecrated to be holy, 
and that thy holy presence may be continually in 
this house, and that all people who shall enter upon 
the threshold of the Lord's house may feel thy 
power, and feel constrained to acknowledge that 
thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a 
place of thy holiness. And do thou grant, Holy 
Father, that all those who shall worship in this 
house, may be taught words of wisdom out of the 
best books, and that they may seek learning even 
by study, and also by faith, as thou hast said ; and 
that they may grow up in thee, and receive a full- 
ness of the Holy Ghost, and be organized according 
to thy laws, and be prepared to obtain every needful 
thing; and that this house may be a house of prayer, 
a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of glory 
and of God, even thy house; that all the incomings 
of thy people, into this house, may be in the name 
of the Lord; that all the outgoings from this house 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. I93 

may be in the name of the Lord ; and that all their 
salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with 
holy hands, uplifted to the Most High; and that no 
unclean thing shall be permitted to come into thy 
house to pollute it ; and when thy people transgress, 
any of them, they may speedily repent, and return 
unto thee, and find favor in thy sight, and be restored 
to the blessings which thou hast ordained to be 
poured out upon those who shall reverence thee in 
thy house. And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy 
servants may go forth from this house, armed with 
thy power, and thy name may be upon them, and 
thy glory be round about them, and .thine angels 
have charge over them ; and from this place they 
may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in 
truth, unto the ends of the earth, that they may 
know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put 
forth thy hand, to fulfill that which thou hast spoken 
by the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last 
days. We ask thee, Holy Father, to establish the 
people that shall worship and honorably hold a 
name and standing in this thy house, to all genera- 
tions, and for eternity, that no weapon formed 
against them shall prosper; that he who diggeth a 
pit for them shall fall into the same himself; that no 
combination of wickedness shall have power to rise 
up and prevail over thy people upon whom thy name 
shall be put in this house; and if any people shall 
rise against this people, that thy anger be kindled 
against them, and if they shall smite this people 
thou wilt smite them, thou wilt fight for thy people 
as thou didst in the day of battle, that they may be 
delivered from the hands of all their enemies. 

"We ask thee, Holy Father, to confound, and 
astonish, and to bring to shame and confusion, all 
those who have spread lying reports abroad, over 
the world, against thy servant, or servants, if they 
will not repent when the everlasting gospel shall be 

13 



194 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

proclaimed in their ears, and that all their works 
may be brought to naught, and be swept away by 
the hail, and by the judgments which thou wilt send 
upon them in thy anger, that there may be an end 
to lyings and slanders against thy people; for thou 
knowest, O Lord, that thy servants have been 
innocent before thee in bearing record of thy name, 
for which they have suffered these things ; therefore 
we plead before thee a full and complete deliverance 
from under this yoke ; break it off, O Lord ; break 
it of! from the necks of thy servants, by thy power, 
that we may rise up in the midst of this generation 
and do thy work. 

" O Jehovah, have mercy on this people, and as 
all men sin, forgive the transgressions of thy people, 
and let them be blotted out forever. Let the 
anointing of thy ministers be sealed upon them 
with power from on high ; let it be fulfilled upon 
them as upon those on the day of pentecost ; let the 
gift of tongues be poured out upon thy people, even 
cloven tongues as of fire, and the interpretation 
thereof, and let thy house be filled, as with a rushing 
mighty wind, with thy glory. Put upon thy servants 
the testimony of the covenant, that when they go 
out and proclaim thy word, they may seal up the 
law, and prepare the hearts of thy saints for all 
those judgments thou art about to send, in thy 
wrath, upon the inhabitants of the earth, because of 
their transgressions; that thy people may not faint 
in the day of trouble. And whatsoever city thy 
servants shall enter, and the people of that city re- 
ceive their testimony, let thy peace and thy salvation 
be upon that city, that they may gather out of that 
city the righteous, that they may come forth to Zion, 
or to her stakes, the places of thy appointment, with 
songs of everlasting joy ; and until this be accom- 
plished, let not thy judgments fall upon this city. 
And whatsoever city thy servants shall enter, and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 95 

the people of that city receive their testimony, let 
thy peace and thy salvation be upon that city, that 
they may gather out of that city the righteous, that 
they may come forth to Zion, or to her stakes, the 
places of thy appointment, with songs of everlasting 
joy; and until this be accomplished, let not thy 
judgments fall upon this city. And whatsoever city 
thy servants shall enter, and the people of that city 
receive not the testimony of thy servants, and thy 
servants warn them to save themselves from this 
untoward generation, let it be upon that city accord- 
ing to that which thou hast spoken by the mouths 
of thy prophets ; but deliver thou, O Jehovah, we 
beseech thee, thy servants from their hands, and 
cleanse them from their blood. O Lord, we delight 
not in the destruction of our fellow-men! Their 
souls are precious before thee, but thy word must 
be fulfilled. Help thy servants to say, with thy 
grace assisting them, thy will be done, O Lord, and 
not ours. We know that thou hast spoken by the 
mouth of thy prophets terrible things concerning 
the wicked, in the last days — that thou wilt pour 
out thy judgments without measure; therefore, O 
Lord, deliver thy people from the calamity of the 
wicked; enable thy servants to seal up the law, and 
bind up the testimony, that they may be prepared 
against the day of burning. We ask thee, Holy 
Father, to remember those who have been driven 
(by the inhabitants of Jackson County, Mo.) from 
the lands of their inheritance, and break off, O Lord, 
this yoke of affliction that has been put upon them. 
Thou knowest, O Lord, that they have been greatly 
oppressed and afflicted by wicked men, and our 
hearts flow out with sorrow because of their griev- 
ous burdens. O Lord, how long wilt thou suffer 
this people to bear this affliction, and the cries of 
their innocent ones to ascend up in thine ears, and 
their blood come up in testimony before thee, and 



I96 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

not make a display of thy testimony in their behalf? 
Have mercy, O Lord, upon that wicked mob who 
have driven thy people, that they may cease to 
spoil, that they may repent of their sins, if repent- 
ance is to be found ; but if they will not, make bare 
thine arm, O Lord, and redeem that which thou 
didst appoint a Zion unto thy people. 

"And if it cannot be otherwise, that the cause of 
thy people may not fail before thee, may thine anger 
be kindled, and thine indignation fall upon them, 
that they may be wasted away, both root and branch, 
from under heaven ; but inasmuch as they will re- 
pent, thou art gracious and merciful, and wilt turn 
away thy wrath when thou lookest upon the face of 
thine anointed. Have mercy, O Lord, upon all the 
nations of the earth ; have mercy upon the rulers of 
our land ; may those principles which were so hon- 
orably and nobly defended, namely, the constitution 
of our land, by our fathers, be established forever. 
Remember the kings, the princes, the nobles, and 
the great ones of the earth, and all people, and the 
churches, all the poor, the needy and afflicted ones 
of the earth, that their hearts maybe softened, when 
thy servants shall go out from thy house, O Jehovah, 
to bear testimony of thy name, that their prejudices 
may give way before the truth, and thy people may 
obtain favor in the sight of all, that all the ends of 
the earth may know that we thy servants have heard 
thy voice, and that thou hast sent us ; that from all 
these, thy servants, the sons of Jacob, may gather 
out the righteous to build a holy city to thy name, 
as thou hast commanded them. We ask thee to 
appoint unto Zion other stakes besides this one 
which thou hast appointed, that the gathering of 
thy people may roll on in great power and majesty, 
that thy work may be cut short in righteousness. 
Now these words, O Lord, we have spoken before 
thee, concerning the revelations and commandments 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 1 97 

which thou hast given unto us, who are identified 
with the Gentiles ; but thou knowest that thou hast 
a great love for the children of Jacob, who have 
been scattered upon the mountains, for a long time, 
in a cloudy and dark day ; we therefore ask thee to 
have mercy upon the children of Jacob, that Jeru- 
salem, from this hour, may begin to be redeemed, 
and the yoke of bondage begin to be broken off 
from the house of David, and the children of Judah 
may begin to return to the lands which thou didst 
give to Abraham, their father; and cause that the 
remnants of Jacob, who have been cursed and 
smitten because of their transgressions, be con- 
verted from their wild and savage condition, to the 
fullness of the everlasting gospel, that they may lay 
down their weapons of bloodshed, and cease their 
rebellions; and may all the scattered remnants of 
Israel, who have been driven to the ends of the 
earth, come to a knowledge of the truth, believe in 
the Messiah, and be redeemed from oppression, and 
rejoice before thee. 

" O Lord, remember thy servant, Joseph Smith, 
Jr., and all his afflictions and persecutions, how he 
has covenanted with Jehovah, and vowed to thee, O 
mighty God of Jacob, and the commandments which 
thou hast given unto him, and that he hath sincerely 
striven to do thy will. Have mercy, O Lord, upon 
his wife and children, that they may be exalted in 
thy presence and preserved by thy fostering hand; 
have mercy upon all their immediate connections, 
that their prejudices may be broken up and swept 
away as with a flood, that they may be converted 
and redeemed with Israel, and know that thou art 
God. Remember, O Lord, the presidents, even all 
the presidents of thy church, that thy right hand 
may exalt them, with all their families, and their 
immediate connections, that their names may be 
perpetuated and had in everlasting remembrance, 



I98 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

from generation to generation. Remember all thy 
church, O Lord, with all their families, and all their 
immediate connections, with all their sick and 
afflicted ones, with all the poor and meek of the 
earth, that the kingdom which thou hadst set up 
without hands may become a great mountain, and 
fill the whole earth ; that thy church may come forth 
out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth 
fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an 
army with banners, and be adorned as a bride for 
that day when thou shalt unveil the heavens, and 
cause the mountains to flow down at thy presence, 
and the valleys to be exalted, the rough places made 
smooth ; that thy glory may fill the earth, that when 
the trump shall sound for the dead we shall be 
caught up in the cloud to meet thee, that we may 
ever be with the Lord, that our garments may be 
pure, that we may be clothed upon with robes of 
righteousness, with palms in our hands and crowns 
of glory upon our heads, and reap eternal joy for all 
our sufferings. 

" O Lord God Almighty, hear us in these peti- 
tions, and answer us from heaven, thy holy habita- 
tion, where thou sittest enthroned, with glory, honor, 
power, majesty, might, dominion, truth, justice, judg- 
ment, mercy, and an infinity of fullness, from ever- 
lasting to everlasting. O hear, O hear, O hear us, 
O Lord, and answer these petitions, and accept the 
dedication of this house unto thee, the work of our 
hands, which we have built unto thy name ! And 
also this church, to put upon it thy name; and help 
us by the power of thy spirit, that we may mingle 
our voices with those bright shining seraphs around 
thy throne, with acclamations of praise, singing 
hosanna to God and the Lamb, and let these thine 
anointed ones be clothed with salvation, and thy 
saints shout aloud for joy. Amen, and Amen." 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. I99 

The sublimity of this prayer is striking. Its 
opening : " Thanks be to thy name, O Lord God of 
Israel, who keepest covenant and showest mercy 
unto thy servants," has an antique grandeur in its 
tone, while the exalted outburst, " O Jehovah, have 
mercy upon this people!" and " Have mercy upon 
the children of Jacob, that Jerusalem, from this 
hour, may begin to be redeemed, and the yoke of 
bondage begin to be broken off from the house of 
David, that the children of Judah may begin to re- 
turn unto the lands which thou didst give to Abra- 
ham, their father," has an Hebraic swell worthy one 
of the old Jewish prophets. 

There could be no mistaking the God whom 
Joseph was revealing to his disciples, nor the one 
with whom they were making their covenant. In- 
deed, how wonderfully personal is this language: 
''O Lord, remember thy servant, Joseph Smith, Jr., 
and all his afflictions and persecutions, how he has 
covenanted with Jehovah, and vowed to thee, O 
mig'ity God of Jacob, and the commandments which 
thou hast given unto him, and that he hath sincerely 
striven to do thy will." 

Joseph, in fact, had actually made a covenant with 
Jehovah, administered to him by angels, which he in 
turn was administering to the saints in that temple, 
now dedicated to the name of the God of Jacob. 

The divine events of that occasion would be very 
incompletely told without a view of the angelic ad- 
ministration which there took place : 

After the close of the above prayer, and singing 
by the choir, the Lord's Supper was administered 
"after which," says Joseph, "I bore record of my 



200 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

mission, and of the ministration of angels. * * * 
President F. G. Williams arose, and testified that 
while President Rigdon was making his first prayer, 
an angel entered the window and took his seat be- 
tween father Smith and himself, and remained there 
during his prayer. President David Whitmer also 
saw angels in the house." 

At the evening meeting of the same day, says 
Joseph, " Brother George A. Smith arose and began 
to prophesy, when a noise was heard like the sound 
of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the temple, 
and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being 
moved upon by an invisible power. Many began 
to speak in tongues and prophesy; others saw 
glorious visions ; and I beheld the temple was filled 
with angels, which fact I declared to the congrega- 
tion. The people of the neighborhood came 
running together (hearing an unusual sound within, 
and seeing a bright light like a pillar of fire resting 
upon the temple), and were astonished at what was 
transpiring." 

From that day onward these pentecostal scenes 
were frequent. On Sunday, April 3d, on the occa- 
sion of a meeting in the temple, after assisting in 
the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, says Joseph: 
" I retired to the pulpit, the vails being dropped, and 
bowed myself, with Oliver Cowdery, in solemn and 
silent prayer. After rising from prayer, the follow- 
ing vision was opened to both of us: 

"The vail was taken from our minds, and the 
eyes of our understanding were opened. We saw 
the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit 
before us, and under his feet was a paved work of 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 201 

pure gold, in color like amber. His eyes were as a 
flame of fire, the hair of his head was white like the 
pure snow, his countenance shone above the bright- 
ness of the sun, and his voice was as the sound of 
the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Je- 
hovah, saying: 

■ ' I am the first and the last, I am he who liveth, 
I am he who was slain, I am your advocate with the 
Father. Behold your sins are forgiven you, you are 
clean before me, therefore lift up your heads and re- 
joice, let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let 
the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with 
their might, built this house to my name, for behold, 
I have accepted this house, and my name shall be 
here, and I will manifest myself to my people in 
mercy in this house, yea, I will appear unto my ser- 
vants, and speak unto them with mine own voice, if 
my people will keep my commandments, and do not 
pollute this holy house, yea the hearts of thousands 
and tens of thousands shall greatly rejoice in con- 
sequence of the blessings which shall be poured out, 
and the endowment with which my servants have 
been endowed in this house; and the fame of this 
house shall spread to foreign lands, and this is the 
beginning of the blessing which shall be poured out 
upon the heads of my people. Even so. Amen.' 

" After this vision closed the heavens were again 
opened unto us, and Moses appeared before us, and 
committed unto us the keys of the gathering of 
Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the lead- 
ing of the Ten Tribes from the land of the north. 

" After this Elias appeared, and committed the 
dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, saying, that 
in us, and our seed, all generations after us should 
be blessed. 



202 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" After this vision had closed, another great and 
glorious vision burst upon us, for Elijah the Prophet, 
who was taken to heaven without tasting death, 
stood before us, and said: 

" ■ Behold, the time has fully come, which was 
spoken of by the mouth of Malachi, testifying that 
he [Elijah] should be sent before the great and 
dreadful day of the Lord come, to turn the hearts 
of the fathers to the children, and the children to 
the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a 
curse. Therefore the keys of this dispensation are 
committed into your hands, and by this ye may 
know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is 
near, even at the doors.' " 



i 

■s 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE TWO COVENANTS THE DISPENSATION OF ABRA- 
HAM NOT DONE AWAY IN CHRIST THE ETERNAL 

PLAN IN ITS FULLNESS MORMONISM HARMON- 
IZING THE GOSPEL THEMES OF THE AGES THE 

GOSPEL OF CHRIST KNOWN UNTO MOSES AND THE 

ANCIENTS ITS FULLNESS REVEALED THROUGH 

JOSEPH. 

Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham. — 
Vision of Joseph in the temple. 

There are two Covenants ! The one is in Abra- 
ham, the Father of the Faithful ; the other in Christ, 
the Saviour of the world. 

The one is a race covenant, pertaining specially 
to the chosen people. The other is the covenant of 
the Son of God, pertaining to the redemption of all 
the sons and daughters of Adam, through faith in 
Christ. The greater embraces the lesser, and fulfills, 
not supplants, it. The covenant made to Abraham 
was nascent in the promise of the covenant to be 
revealed in the chosen of his loins, at his coming. 

There was, therefore, the gospel of Abraham, in 
which all Israel believed, but which was not to the 
Gentiles as a covenant to them ; and there was also 



204 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the gospel of Christ, to be preached unto every 
creature, that the Gentile as well as the Jew might 
be saved in his ministry. 

In the record of the vision of Joseph and Oliver 
in the temple, it is said; " After this Elias appeared, 
and committed the dispensation of the gospel of 
Abraham, saying, that in us and our seed, all gene- 
rations after us should be blessed." 

This is the same as at the beginning, and is posi- 
tive testimony thaf the dispensation of Abraham 
has been renewed i 1 Joseph. It was, therefore, not 
" done away in Chr st." 

What the gospe/ of Jesus was maybe seen in the 
testament of him by his apostles at his first coming, 
and in the still greater testament by Joseph and his 
brethren for this is not only concerning his first 
coming, death, and resurrection, but also concerning 
his second coming in the dispensation of the fullness 
of times, as Messiah and Lord of the whole earth. 

The dispensations of Jesus also embrace the dis- 
pensation of Moses, as well as the covenant of his 
father Abraham. 

Joseph reveals the fact that the knowledge of 
Jesus — of his pre-existence and predestination — of 
his advents and ministries on the earth — was had 
from the beginning. This was known to Adam by 
revelation from the Father, known to Enoch, Noah, 
Abraham, and the Prophets. The gospel of Christ 
was preached unto these, by Patriarchs, one to 
another, and also revealed from the heavens to them, 
but kept hid to the world because of unbelief. 

'Tis a supreme view of the gospel of Christ, — 
giving such a universal sweep to his ministry, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 205 

scarcely aught of which sectarian divines have con- 
ceived or incorporated in their expoundings. 

Himself fully understanding this everlasting mys- 
tery of "God manifest in the flesh," Jesus answered 
the Jews, when they were discussing with him the 
subject of Abraham : 

" Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day :. 
and he saw it and was glad. 

"Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet 
fifty vears old, and hast thou seen Abraham ? 

"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto 
you, before Abraham was I am. 

" Then took they up stones to cast at him." 

And still has this remained a mystery to this day. 

But Joseph has unlocked the mysteries of the 
heavens and the earth, and revealed the eternal 
plan of the Father, in its fullness, showing the Christ 
in his ministry from the foundation of the world to' 
the "consummation of all things" in his millennial 
reign. 

The answer of Jesus to the Jews, that Abraham 
saw his day and rejoiced, might be supplemented ; 
for not only did Abraham see it, but Adam, Enoch, 
Xoah, Melchisedeck, and the ancient prophets of 
this continent saw the day of Jesus and rejoiced. 

Thus is the subject expounded in Mormonism, 
harmonizing the views and gospel themes of all the 
ages. 

Moses attempted to reveal the gospel of the Christ 
to Israel, but could not because of the unbelief of 
the covenant people. 

When the great Lawgiver came down from the 



206 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Mount, and saw the return of Israel to the idolatry 
of Egypt, he broke the first tables of stone, being, 
unable to give them a revelation of the perfect gos- 
pel, which, according to Joseph, is never in any dis- 
pensation more nor less than the gospel of the Only 
Begotten Son, who was with the Father in all his 
works from before the foundation of the world. 

Not in every dispensation, however, have these 
divine lawgivers and prophets been able to reveal 
much of the "fullness of the everlasting gospel," in 
consequence of the hardness of the hearts of the 
chosen people, and the prevalence in their midst of 
the idolatry of surrounding nations. 

It is very understandable how Israel, — educated 
for several centuries in Egypt, and afterwards re- 
peatedly taken captive by the great empires of the 
ancient world, — should have been often overwhelmed 
with heathenism and led away to the worship of 
strange gods. Therefore both Moses and the 
Prophets came short of revealing unto them the 
" fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ," which 
Joseph says was known unto that great Lawgiver, 
and also unto many of the Jewish Prophets who 
came after him. 

True, the children of Israel had just been re- 
deemed from Egyptian bondage and the direct 
influence of Egyptian civilization, but they had not 
been educated up to a knowledge of Jehovah, his 
purposes and his economy. They understood but 
little of the " dispensation of the gospel to Abra- 
ham," nor of the vast meaning of the covenants, 
more than that thereby they were accepted by the 
God of their fathers, as the chosen people in whom 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 20/ 

Jehovah would show forth his power in the eyes of 
the Gentiles, and glorify himself in making them a 
great nation. 

But the divine mysteries of the "dispensation of 
the gospel committed to Abraham," in which the 
Christ was revealed to him as his " Seed," in whom 
all nations and peoples should be blessed, were not 
understood at any time, only by a few of the 
descendants of the Hebrew Patriarch. 

So when Moses came down from the sacred 
Mount, after his long personal communion with 
Jehovah, he found that the people of Israel had set 
up the "golden calf," after the pattern of the 
Egyptian worship of the "creative potency" as rep- 
resented by the "sacred bull." 

" And it came to pass, as soon as he drew nigh 
unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: 
and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables 
out of his hands, and brake them beneath the 
Mount." 

So the Lord was not able to reveal unto his peo- 
ple at that time the "fullness of the gospel" which 
he had revealed unto Abraham, but he gave unto 
them instead what is known as the Mosaic economy. 

But the " Law of Moses" was not the perfect 
covenant of Jehovah, begun in Abraham. Paul says: 

" For the promise, that he should be heir of the 
world, was not to Abraham, nor to his seed, through 
the law, but through the righteousness of faith." — 
Romans. 

u And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would 



208 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

justify the heathen through faith, preached before 
the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all 
nations be blessed." — Galatians. 

There can be but one intelligent interpretation of 
this, namely, that the Spirit which gave the Scrip- 
ture foresaw this, and preached the gospel unto 
Abraham before the law was given to Moses. In 
fact, it was Jehovah himself who had said to Abra- 
ham, " In thee shall all nations of the earth be 
blessed." Again says Paul to the Galatians, contin- 
uing his subject: 

" Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the 
law. * * That the blessing of Abraham might 
come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ ; that 
we might receive the promise of the Spirit through 
faith. * * * 

" Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises 
made. He saith not, And to thy seeds, as of many; 
but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 

" And this I say, that the covenant, that was con- 
firmed of God in Christ, the law which was four 
hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that 
it should make the promise of none effect. * * * 

"Wherefore then serveth the law? it was added 
because of transgressions, till the seed should come 
to whom the promise was made , and it was ordained 
by angels in the hand of a mediator. * * * 

" Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to 
bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by 
faith." 

It is evident that the gospel of Christ was also 
known unto Moses with the divine mysteries of the 
everlasting covenant made between Jehovah and' 
Abraham ; for Paul says to the Corinthians* 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 2O9 

" Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should 
be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the 
cloud, and all passed through the sea; 

" And were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and 
in the sea ; 

" And did all eat the same spiritual meat ; 

"And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for 
they drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed 
them : and that Rock was Christ." 

Writing to the Hebrews concerning their fathers 
in the wilderness, the Apostle uses this remarkable 
language: 

" For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as 
unto them; but the word did not profit them, not 
being mixed with faith in them that heard it." 

In keeping with these views of Paul (not derived 
therefrom, but given by revelation), the Prophet 
Joseph early taught the disciples that the gospel of 
Jesus Christ was preached from the days of Adam, 
by those ancients who held the keys of dispensa- 
tions. 

And these administered to Joseph in the temple 
at Kirtland — Moses, Elias, Elijah, and also Jesus; 
besides, on various occasions, others of the presiding 
spirits of the just administered to him,, on those 
occasions each committing the keys of his own dis- 
pensation, with its peculiar subject, blessing and 
endowment. Hence the record of the temple: "And 
Moses appeared unto us, and committed unto us 
the keys of the gathering of Israel. 

" After this Elias appeared and committed the 

H 



2IO LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

dispensation of Abraham, saying, that in us and our 
seed, all generations after us should be blessed." 

The special mission of this angel, Elias, — the 
Restorer, as his name signifies, — was to renew the 
covenant of Abraham. Then Elijah, with the power 
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, 
appeared and declared: 

'* Therefore the keys of this dispensation are com- 
mitted into your hands, and by this ye may know 
that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near." 

But all these dispensations, covenants, keys and 
endowments are comprehended in the " fullness of 
the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ," revealed 
through Joseph the Prophet. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE PRIESTHOOD JOSEPH'S GREAT REVELATION 

THEREON ITS HISTORICAL PERTINENCY SEND- 
ING FORTH THE LATTER-DAY MINISTERS. 

A revelation " on Priesthood," given on the 226. 
and 23d of September, 1832, will just here be perti- 
nent, as it is an historical link in the growth of the 
church, its institutions and its priesthood, and an 
exposition of several important subjects already 
before the reader. It opens with the subject of the 
temple, and then branches off into a general history 
of the Priesthood and its origin, mying a view of 
Moses and Aaron with the children of Israel in the 
wilderness, finally connecting their orders of the 
Priesthood with the present times : 

A revelation of Jesus Christ unto his servant 
Joseph Smith, jun., and six elders, as they united 
their hearts and lifted their voices on high; yea, the 
word of the Lord concerning his church, established 
in the. last days for the restoration of his people, as 
he has spoken by the mouth of his prophets, and 
for the gathering of his saints to stand upon Mount 
Zion, which shall be the city of Xew Jerusalem, 
which city shall be built, beginning at the temple 
lot, which is appointed by the finger of the Lord, in 
the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, 



212 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

and dedicated by the hand of Joseph Smith, jun., 
and others with whom the Lord w T as well pleased. 

Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city 
New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of 
the saints beginning at this place, even the place of 
the temple, which temple shall be reared in this 
generation ; for verily, this generation shall not all 
pass away until an house shall be built unto the 
Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud 
shall be even the glory of the Lord, which shall fill 
the house. And the sons of Moses, according to 
the holy priesthood which he received under the 
hand of his father-in-law, J ethro; and Jethro received 
it under the hand of Caleb ; and Caleb received it 
under the hand of Elihu ; and Elihu under the hand 
of Jeremy; and Jeremy under the hand of Gad ; and 
Gad under the hand of Esaias ; and Esaias received 
it under the hand of God. Esaias also lived in the 
days of Abraham, and was blessed of him — which 
Abraham received the priesthood from Melchisedek, 
who received it through the lineage of his fathers, 
even till Noah; and from Noah till Enoch, through 
the lineage of their fathers; and from Enoch to 
Abel, who was slain by the conspiracy of his brother, 
who received the priesthood by the commandments 
of God, by the hand of his father Adam, who was 
the first man — which priesthood continueth in the 
church of God in all generations, and is without 
beginning of days or end of years. 

And the Lord confirmed a priesthood also upon 
Aaron and his seed, throughout all their generations 
— which priesthood also continueth and abideth for 
ever with the priesthood, which is after the holiest 
order of God: and this greater priesthood adminis- 
tereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the myste- 
ries of the kingdom even the key of the knowledge 
of God; therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the 
power of godliness is manifest ; and without the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 2I3 

ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priest- 
hood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto 
men in the flesh; for without this no man can see 
the face of God, even the Father, and live. 

Xow this Moses plainly taught to the children of 
Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to 
sanctiify his people that they might behold the face 
of God; but they hardened their hearts and could 
not endure his presence, therefore the Lord in his 
wratn (for his angerwas kindled against them) swore 
that they should not enter into his rest while in the 
wilderness, which rest is the fullness of his glory. 
Therefore he took Moses out of their midst, and the 
holy priesthood also ; and the lesser priesthood con- 
tinued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the 
ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel, 
which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of 
baptism, and the remission of sins and the law of 
carnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath 
caused to continue with the house of Aaron among- 
the children of Israel until John, whom God raised 
up, being filled with the Holy Ghost from his 
mother's womb; for he was baptized while he was 
yet in his childhood, and was ordained by the angel 
of God at the time he was eight days old unto this 
power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and 
to make straight the way of the Lord before the 
face of his people, to prepare them for the coming 
of the Lord, in whose hand is given all power. 

And again, the office of elder and bishop are 
necessary appendages belonging unto the high 
priesthood. And again, the offices of teachers and 
deacons are necessary appendages belonging to the 
lesser priesthood, which priesthood was confirmed 
upon Aaron and his sons. 

Therefore, as I said concerning the sons of Moses 
— for the sons of Moses, and also the sons of Aaron 
shall offer an acceptable offering and sacrifice in the 



214 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

house of the Lord, which house shall be built unto 
the Lord in this generation, upon the consecrated 
spot as I have appointed: and the sons of Moses 
and of Aaron shall be filled with the glory of the 
Lord, upon Mount Zion in the Lord's house, whose 
sons are ye; and also many whom I have called and 
sent forth to build up my church ; for whoso is 
faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of 
which I have spoken, and the magnifying their call- 
ing, are sanctified by the spirit unto the renewing of 
their bodies; they become the sons of Moses and of 
Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and 
kingdom, and the elect of God ; and also all they 
who receive this priesthood receiveth me, saith the 
Lord ; for he that receiveth my servants receiveth 
me; and he that receiveth me receiveth my Father; 
and he that receiveth my Father; receiveth my 
Father's kingdom ; therefore all that my Father hath 
shall be given unto him, and this is according to the 
oath and covenant which belongeth to the priest- 
hood. Therefore, all those who receive the priest- 
hood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, 
which he cannot break, neither can it be moved; 
but whoso breaketh this covenant, after he hath 
received it, and altogether turneth therefrom, shall 
not have forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the 
world to come. And all those who come not unto 
this priesthood which ye have received, which I now 
confirm upon you who are present this day, by mine 
own voice out of the heavens, and even I have given 
the heavenly hosts and mine angels charge concern- 
ing you. * * * 

It will be seen that the orders of the Priesthood 
of Moses and of Aaron have been restored in the 
Latter-day Church, and that those upon whom the 
priesthood has been conferred are accounted the' 
sons of Moses and Aaron. But the order of Moses 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 215 

is that which came down through the Patriarchs 
from the beginning, being the same known under 
the grander name of the Melchisedek Priesthood, 
which is after the order of the Son of God. 

A still greater revelation on priesthood was given 
at a later date. Soon after the ordination of the 
Twelve, they met in council, and, as we have seen, 
were appointed to take their first mission to the 
Eastern States. At their second council they 
addressed to the Prophet the following very re- 
markable communication, asking for a " great reve- 
ation: 



Kirtlaxd, March 28th, '35. 

This afternoon the Twelve met in council, and 
had a time of general confession. On reviewing 
our past course we are satisfied, and feel to confess 
also, that we have not realized the importance of 
our calling, to that degree that we ought ; we have 
been light-minded and vain, and in many things 
done wrong. For all these things we have asked 
the forgiveness of our Heavenly Father; and wherein 
we have grieved or wounded the feelings of the 
Presidencv. we ask their forgiveness. The time 
when we are about to separate is near, and when we 
shall meet again God onlv knows. We therefore 
feel to ask of him whom we have acknowledged to 
be our Prophet and Seer, that he inquire of God for 
us, and obtain a revelation (if consistent), that we 
may look upon it when we are separated, that our 
hearts may be comforted. Our worthiness has not 
inspired us to make this request, but our unworthi- 
ness. We have unitedly asked God, our Heavenly 
Father, to grant unto us through his Seer a revela- 
tion of his mind and will concerning our duty the 



2l6 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

coming season, even a great revelation, that will 
enlarge our hearts, comfort us in adversity, and 
brighten our hopes amidst the power of" darkness. 

Orson Hyde, / rj , 

Wm. E. McLellin, } Ller ^ 
To President Joseph Smith, Jr. 



As on all such grand occasions, the Prophet was 
found equal to the work, for a mighty power was 
behind him. " In compliance with the above re- 
quest," says he, " I inquired of the Lord, and 
received for answer the following revelation on 
Priesthood: 



There are, in the church, two priesthoods, namely, 
the Melchisedek, and Aaronic, including the Leviti- 
cal priesthood. Why the first is called the Melchi- 
sedek priesthood, is because Melchisedek was such 
a great high priest. Before his day it was called the 
holy priesthood, after the order of the Son of God ; 
but out of respect or reverence to the name of the 
Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition 
of his name, they, the church, in ancient days, called 
that priesthood after Melchisedek, or the Melchise- 
dek priesthood. 

All other authorities or offices in the church are 
appendages to this priesthood ; but there are two 
divisions or grand heads- — one is the Melchisedek 
priesthood, and the other is the Aaronic, or Levitical 
priesthood. 

The office of an elder comes under the priesthood 
of Melchisedek. The Melchisedek priesthood holds 
the right of presidency, and has power and authority 
over all the offices in the church in all ages of the 
world, to administer in spiritual things. 

The presidency of the high priesthood, after the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 21 7 

order of Melchisedek, have a right to officiate in all 
the offices in the church. 

High priests after the order of the Melchisedek 
priesthood, have a right to officiate in their own 
standing, under the direction of the presidency, in 
administering spiritual things; and also in the office 
of an elder priest (of the Levitical order), teacher, 
deacon, and member. 

An elder has a right to officiate in his stead when 
the high priest is not present. 

The high priest and elder are to administer in 
spiritual things, agreeably to the covenants and 
commandments of the church ; and thev have a riodit 
to officiate in all these offices of the church when 
there are no higher authorities present. 

The second priesthood is called the priesthood of 
Aaron, because it was conferred upon Aaron and his 
seed, throughout all their generations. Why it is 
called the lesser priesthood, is because it is an 
appendage to the greater or the Melchisedek priest- 
hood, and has power in administering outward ordi- 
nances. The bishopric is the presidency of this 
priesthood, and holds the keys or authority of the 
same. Xo man has a le^al riodit to this office, to 
hold the keys of this priesthood, except he be a 
literal descendant of Aaron. But as a high priest of 
the Melchisedek priesthood has authority to officiate 
in all the lesser offices, he may officiate in the office 
of bishop when no literal descendant of Aaron can 
be found, provided he is called and set apart and 
ordained unto this power by the hands of the presi- 
dency of the Melchisedek priesthood. 

The power and authority of the higher or Melchi- 
sedek priesthood is to hold the keys of all the spirit- 
ual blessings of the church — to have the privilege 
of receiving the mvsteries of the kingdom of heaven 
— to have the heavens opened unto them — to com- 
mune with the general assembly and church of the 



2l8 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

first born, and to enjoy the communion and presence 
of God the Father, and Jesus the Mediator of the 
new covenant. 

The power and authority of the lesser, or Aaronic 
priesthood, is to hold the keys of the ministering of 
angels, and to administer in outward ordinances, the 
letter of the gospel — the baptism of repentance for 
the remission of sins, agreeably to the covenants and 
commandments. 

Of necessity there are presidents, or presiding 
offices growing out of, or appointed of or from 
among those who are ordained to the several offices 
in these two priesthoods. Of the Melchisedek 
priesthood, three presiding high priests, chosen by 
the body, appointed and ordained to that office, and 
upheld by the confidence, faith, and prayer of the 
church, form a quorum of the presidency of the 
church. The twelve traveling counsellors are called 
to be the twelve apostles, or special witnesses of the 
name of Christ in all the world ; thus differing from 
other officers in the church in the duties of their 
calling. And they form a quorum, equal in author- 
ity and power to the three presidents previously 
mentioned. The seventy are also called to preach 
the gospel, and to be especial witnesses unto the 
Gentiles and in all the world. Thus differing from 
other officers in the church in the duties of their 
calling; and they form a quorum equal in authority 
to that of the twelve special witnesses or apostles 
just named. And every decision made by either of 
these quorums, must be by the unanimous voice of 
the same; that is, every member in each quorum 
must be agreed to its decisions, in order to make 
their decisions of the same power or validity one 
with the other. (A majority may form a quorum, 
when circumstances render it impossible to be 
otherwise). Unless this is the case, their decisions 
are not entitled to the same blessings which the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 210, 

decisions of a quorum of three presidents were 
anciently, who were ordained after the order of 
Melchisedek, and were righteous and holy men. 
The decisions of these quorums, or either of them, 
are to be made in all righteousness, in holiness, and 
lowliness of heart, meekness and long suffering, and 
in faith, and virtue, and knowledge, temperance, 
patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity ; 
because the promise is, if these things abound in 
them, they shall not be unfruitful in the knowledge 
of the Lord. And in case that any decision of these 
quorums is made in unrighteousness, it may be 
brought before a general assembly of the several 
quorums, which constitute the spiritual authorities 
of the church, otherwise there can be no appeal 
from their decision. 

The twelve are a traveling presiding high council, 
to officiate in the name of the Lord, under the di- 
rection of the presidency of the church, agreeable to 
the institution of heaven ; to build up the church, 
and regulate all the affairs of the same in all nations; 
first unto the Gentiles, and secondly unto the Jews. 

The seventy are to act in the name of the Lord, 
under the direction of the twelve or the traveling 
high council, in building up the church and regulat- 
ing all the affairs of the same in all nations — first 
unto the Gentiles and then to the Jews; the twelve 
being sent out, holding the keys, to open the door 
by the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ — ■ 
and first unto the Gentiles and then unto the Jews. 

The standing high councils, at the stakes of Zion, 
form a quorum equal in authority, in the affairs of 
the church, in all their decisions, to the quorum of 
the presidency, or to the traveling high council. 

The high council in Zion forms a quorum equal 
in authority, in the affairs of the church, in all their 
decisions, to the councils of the twelve at the stakes 
of Zion. 



220 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

It is the duty of the traveling high council to call 
upon the seventy, when they need assistance, to fill 
the several calls for preaching and administering the 
gospel, instead of any others. 

It is the duty of the twelve, in all large branches 
of the church, to ordain evangelical ministers, as they 
shall be designated unto them by revelation. 

The order of this priesthood was confirmed to be 
handed down from father to son, and rightly belongs 
to the literal descendants of the chosen seed, to 
whom the promises were made. This order was 
instituted in the days of Adam, and came down by 
lineage in the following manner: 

From Adam to Seth, who was ordained by Adam 
at the age of 69 years, and was blessed by him three 
years previous to his (Adam's) death, and received 
the promise of God by his father, that his posterity 
should be the chosen of the Lord, and that they 
should be preserved unto the end of the earth, be- 
cause he (Seth) was a perfect man, and his likeness 
was the express likeness of his father's, insomuch 
that he seemed to be like unto his father in all 
things, and could be distinguished from him only by 
his age* 

Enos was ordained at the age of 134 years and 
four months, by the hand of Adam. 

God called upon Cainan in the wilderness, in the 
fortieth year of his age, and he met Adam in jour- 
neying to the place Shedolamak. He was &y years 
old when he received his ordination. 

Mahalaleel was 496 years and seven days old when 
he was ordained by the hand of Adam, who also 
blessed him. 

Jared was 200 years old when he was ordained 
under the hand of Adam, who also blessed him. 

Enoch was 25 years old when he was ordained 
under the hand of Adam, and he was 65 and Adam 
blessed him. And he saw the Lord, and he walked 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 22 1 

with him, and was before his face continually; and 
he walked with God $6$ years, making him 450 years 
old when he was translated. 

Methuselah was 100 years old when he was or- 
dained under the hand of Adam. 

Lamech was 52 years old when he was ordained 
under the hand of Seth. 

Noah was 10 years old when he was ordained 
under the hand of Methuselah. 

Three years previous to the death of Adam, he 
called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, 
and Methuselah, who were all high priests, with the 
residue of his posterity who were righteous, into 
the valley of Adam-ondi-ahman, and there bestowed 
upon them his last blessing. And the Lord ap- 
peared unto them, and they rose up and blessed 
Adam, and called him Michael, the Prince, the Arch- 
angel. And the Lord administered comfort unto 
Adam, and said unto him. I have set thee to be at 
the head — a multitude of nations shall come of thee, 
and thou art a prince over them for ever. 

And Adam stood up in the midst of the congre- 
gation, and notwithstanding he was bowed down 
with age, being full of the Holy Ghost, predicted 
whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the 
latest generation. These things were all written in 
the book of Enoch, and are to be testified of in due 
time. 

It is the duty of the twelve, also, to ordain and 
set in order all the other officers of the church, 
agreeably to the revelation which says : 

To the church of Christ in the land of Zion, in 
addition to the church laws respecting church busi- 
ness — Verily, I say unto you, says the Lord of hosts, 
there must needs be presiding elders to preside over 
those who are of the office of an elder : and also 
priests to preside over those who are of the office of 
a priest, and also teachers to preside over those who 



222 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

are of the office of a teacher in like manner, and 
also the deacons ; wherefore, from deacon to teacher, 
and from teacher to priest, and from priest to elder, 
severally as they are appointed, according to the 
covenants and commandments of the church. Then 
comes the high priesthood, which is the greatest of 
all ; wherefore it must needs be that one be ap- 
pointed of the high priesthood to preside over the 
priesthood, and he shall be called president of the 
high priesthood of the church ; or, in other words, 
the presiding high priest over the high priesthood 
of the church. From the same comes the adminis- 
tering of ordinances and blessings upon the church, 
by the laying on of the hands. 

Wherefore the office of a bishop is not equal unto 
it; for the office of a bishop is in administering all 
temporal things; nevertheless a bishop must be 
chosen from the high priesthood, unless he is a lit- 
eral descendant of Aaron; for unless he is a literal 
descendant of Aaron he cannot hold the keys of that 
priesthood. Nevertheless, a high priest that is after 
the order of Melchisedek, may be set apart unto the 
administering of temporal things, having a knowl- 
edge of them by the spirit of truth, and also to be a 
judge in Israel, to do the business of the church, to 
sit in judgment upon transgressors, upon testimony 
as it shall be laid before him according to the laws, 
by the assistance of his counsellors whom he has 
chosen, or will choose among the elders of the 
church. This is the duty of a bishop who is not a 
literal descendant of Aaron, but has been ordained 
to the high priesthood after the order of Melchi- 
sedek. 

Thus shall he be a judge, even a common judge 
among the inhabitants of Zion, or in a stake of Zion, 
or in any branch of the church where he shall be set 
apart unto this ministry, until the borders of Zion are 
enlarged, and it becomes necessary to have other 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 22$ 

bishops or judges in Zion, or elsewhere; and inas- 
much as the: other bishops appointed they shall 
act in the same: office. 

But a literal descendant of Aaron has a legal 
right to the presidency of this priesthood, to the 
keys of this ministry, to act in the ofhee of 
bishop independently, without counsellors, except 
in a case where a president of the high priest- 
hood, after the order of Melchisedek, is tried, to 
sit as a judge in Israel. And the decision of either 
of these councils, agreeably to the commandment 
which sa; - 

-^ain, verily. I say unto you, the most important 
business of the church, and the most difficult cases 
of the church, inasmuch as there is not satisfaction 
upon the decision of the bishop or judges, it shall 
be handed over and carried up unto the council of 
the church, before the presidency of the high priest- 
hood ; and the presidency of the council of the high 
priesthood shall have power to call other high 
priests, even twelve, to assist as counsellors; and 
thus the presidency of the high priesthood and its 
counsellors shall have power to decide upon testi- 
mony according to the laws of the church. And 
after this decision it shall be had in remembrance 
no more before the Lord ; for this is the hio-hest 
council of the church of God, and a final decision 
upon controversies in spiritual matters. 

There is not any person belonging to the church 
who is exempt from this council of the church. 

And inasmuch as a president of the high priest- 
hood shall transgress, he shall be had in remem- 
brance before the common council of the church, 
who shall be assisted by twelve counsellors of the 
high priesthood; and their decision upon his head 
shall be an end of controversy concerning him. 
Thus, none shall be exempted from the justice and 
the laws of God, that all things may be done in 



224 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

order and in solemnity before him, according to 
truth and righteousness. 

And again, verily I say unto you, the duty of a 
president over the office of a deacon is to preside 
over twelve deacons, to sit in council with them, and 
to teach them their duty — edifying one another, as 
it is given according to the covenants. 

And also the duty of the president over the office 
of the teachers is to preside over twenty-four of the 
teachers, and to sit in council with them, teaching 
them the duties of their office, as given in the cove- 
nants. 

Also the duty of the president over the priest- 
hood of Aaron is to preside over forty-eight priests, 
and sit in council with them, to teach them the 
duties of their office, as is given in the covenants. 
This president is to be a bishop ; for this is one of 
the duties of this priesthood. 

Again, the duty of the president over the office 
of elders is to preside over ninety-six elders, and to 
sit in council with them, and to teach them accord- 
ing to the covenants. This presidency is a distinct 
one from that of the seventy, and is designed for 
those who do not travel into all the world. 

And again, the duty of the president of the office 
of the high priesthood is to preside over the whole 
church, and to be like unto Moses. Behold, here is 
wisdom ; yea, to be a seer, a revelator, a translator, 
and a prophet, having all the gifts of God which he 
bestows upon the head of the church. 

And it is according to the vision, showing the 
order of the seventy, that they should have seven 
presidents to preside over them, chosen out of the 
number of the seventy; and the seventh president 
of these presidents is to preside over the six; and 
these seven presidents are to choose other seventy 
besides the first seventy, to whom they belong, and 
are to preside over them ; and also other seventy, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 225 

until seven times seventy, if the labor in the vine- 
yard of necessity requires it. And these seventy 
are to be traveling ministers unto the Gentiles first, 
and also unto the Jews; whereas other officers of' 
the church, who belong not unto the twelve, neither 
to the seventy, are not under the responsibility to 
travel among all nations, but are to travel as their 
circumstances shall allow, notwithstanding they may 
hold as high and responsible offices in the church. 

Wherefore now let every man learn his duty, and 
to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all 
diligence. He that is slothful shall not be counted 
worthy to stand, and he that learns not his duty and 
shows himself not approved, shall not be counted 
worthy to stand. Even so. Amen. 

Much of the importance and pertinency of this 
revelation resides in its historical connections and 
the circumstances which called it forth. As seen, it 
is in answer to the united prayer of the Twelve to 
the Father, "to grant unto us through his Seer, a 
revelation of his mind and will concerning our duty 
the coming season, even a great revelation, that will 
enlarge our hearts, comfort us in adversity, and 
brighten our hopes amidst the power of darkness." 

In the historical exposition, then, this revelation 
appears not as a fragment of doctrine, but as a great 
organic instrument, revealed to the Church, in the 
establishment of its orders of Priesthood ; and it 
shows that the Master Workman was there, ready 
for the occasion. 

Perhaps no two revelations could be offered, better 
than these, to illustrate how familiar the Prophet was 
with the whole economy of the " everlasting gospel," 
and with the history, genius and orders of the 

15 



226 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Priesthood. Surely the Lord was his teacher. The 
apostles and elders were but as disciples and chil- 
dren at his feet. 

In the first revelation there is also a very fine 
view presented of Jesus, through Joseph, sending 
forth his Latter-day ministers, with the commission 
and gospel instructions given to them. Jesus, 
speaking, says: 

* * * Therefore go ye into all the world, and 
whatsoever place ye cannot go into ye shall send, 
that the testimony may go from you into all the 
world unto every creature. And as I said unto 
mine apostles, even so I say unto you, for you are 
mine apostles, even God's high priests; ye are they 
whom my Father hath given me — ye are my friends; 
therefore, as I said unto mine apostles I say unto 
you again, that every soul who believeth- on your 
words, and is baptized by water for the remission of 
sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost — and these signs 
shall follow them that believe. 

In my name they shall do many wonderful works; 
in my name they shall cast out devils; in my name 
they shall heal the sick; in my name they shall open 
the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the 
deaf; and the tongue of the dumb shall speak; and 
if any man shall administer poison unto them it shall 
not hurt them; and the poison of a serpent shall not 
have power to harm them. But a commandment I 
give unto them, that they shall not boast themselves 
of these things, neither speak them before the world, 
for these things are given unto you for your profit 
and for salvation. 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, they who believe 
not on your words, and are not baptized in water, in 
my name, for the remission of their sins, that they 
may receive the Holy Ghost, shall be damned, and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 2^/ 

shall not come into my Father's kingdom, where my 
Father and I am. And this revelation unto you, 
and commandment, is in force from this very hour 
upon all the world, and the gospel is unto all who 
have not received it. But, verily, I say unto all 
those to whom the kingdom has been given, from 
you it must be preached unto them, that they shall 
repent of their former evil works, for they are to be 
upbraided for their evil hearts of unbelief; and your 
brethren in Zion for their rebellion against you at 
the time I sent you. 

And again I say unto you, my friends (for from 
henceforth I shall call you friends), it is expedient 
that I give unto you this commandment, that ye be- 
come even as my friends in days when I was with 
them traveling to preach this gospel in my power, 
for I suffered them not to have purse or scrip, neither 
two coats; behold I send you out to prove the world, 
and the laborer is worthy of his hire. And any man 
that shall go and preach this gospel of the kingdom, 
and fail not to continue faithful in all things, shall 
not be weary in mind, neither darkened ; neither in 
body, limb, or joint; and an hair of his head shall 
not fall to the ground unnoticed. And they shall 
not go hungry, neither athirst. 

Therefore, take no thought for the morrow, for 
what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or where- 
withal ye shall be clothed ; for consider the lilies of 
the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do 
they spin ; and the kingdoms of the world, in all 
their glory, are not arrayed like one of these; for 
your Father who art in heaven, knoweth that you 
have need of all these things. Therefore, let the mor- 
row take thought for the things of itself. Neither 
take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say, but 
treasure up in your minds continually the words of 
life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that 
portion that shall be meted unto every man. 



228 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Therefore let no man among you (for this com- 
mandment is unto all the faithful who are called of 
God in the church unto the ministry) from this hour 
take purse or scrip, that goeth forth to proclaim this 
gospel of the kingdom. Behold, I send you out to 
reprove the world of all their unrighteous deeds, 
and to teach them of a judgement which is to come. 
And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I 
will go before your face : I will be on your right 
hand and on your left, and my spirit shall be in your 
hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear 
you up. 

Whoso receiveth you receiveth me, and the same 
will feed you, and clothe you, and give you money 
And he who feeds you. or clothes you, or gives you 
money, shall in nowise lose his reward: and he that 
doeth not these things is not my disciple ; by this 
you know my disciples. He that receiveth you not, 
go away from him alone by yourselves, and cleanse 
your feet even with water, pure water, whether in 
heat or in cold, and bear testimony of it unto your 
Father which is in heaven, and return not again 
unto that man. And in whatsoever village or city 
ye enter, do likewise. Nevertheless, search dilli- 
gently and spare not ; and woe unto that house, or 
that village or city that rejecteth you, or your words, 
or your testimony concerning me. Woe, I say again, 
unto that house, or that village or city that rejecteth 
you, or your words, or your testimony of me; for I 
the Almighty, have laid my hands upon the nations, 
to scourge them for their wickedness: and plagues 
shall go forth, and they shall not be taken from the 
earth until I have completed my work which shall 
be cut short in righteousness, until all shall know 
me, who remain, even from the least unto the great- 
est, and shall be filled with the knowledge of the 
Lord, and shall see eye to eye, and shall lift up their 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 229 

voice, and with the voice together sing this new 
song, saying : 

The Lord hath brought again Zion: 

The Lord hath redeemed his people, Israel, 

According to the election of grace, 

Which was brought to pass by the faith 

And covenants of their fathers. 

The Lord hath redeemed his people, 

And Satan is bound and time is no longer: 

The Lord hath gathered all things in one: 

The Lord hath brought down Zion from above : 

The Lord hath brought up Zion from beneath: 

The earth hath travailed and brought forth her 

strength: 
And truth is established in her bowels: 
And the heavens have smiled upon her: 
And she is clothed with the glory of her God: 
For he stands in the midst of his people: 
Glory, and honor, and power, and might, 
Be ascribed to our God, for he is full of mercy, 
Justice, grace and truth, and peace, 
For ever and ever, Amen. 

And again, verily, verily, I say unto you, it is ex- 
pedient that every man who goes forth to proclaim 
mine everlasting gospel, that inasmuch as they have 
families, and receive moneys by gift, that they should 
send it unto them or make use of it for their benefit, 
as the Lord shall direct them, for thus it seemeth 
me good. And let all those who have not families, 
who receive moneys, send it up unto the Bishop in 
Zion, or unto the Bishop in Ohio, that it may. be 
consecrated for the bringing forth of the revelations 
and the printing thereof, and for establishing Zion. 

And if any man shall give unto any of you a coat, 
or a suit, take the old and cast it unto the poor, and 
go your way rejoicing. And if any man among you 



23O LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

be strong in the Spirit, let him take with him he that 
is weak, that he may be edified in all meekness, that 
he may become strong also. 

Therefore, take with you those who are ordained 
unto the lesser priesthood, and send them before 
you to make appointments, and to prepare the way, 
and to fill appointments that you yourselves are not 
able to fill. Behold, this is the way that mine apos- 
tles, in ancient days, built up my church unto me. 

Therefore, let every man stand in his own office, 
and labor in his own calling; and let not the head 
say unto the feet, it hath no need of the feet, for 
without the feet how shall the body be able to stand? 
also the body hath need of every member, that all 
may be edified together, that the system may be 
kept perfect * * # 



CHAPTER XIX. 

SPECULATION AND APOSTACY "SOMETHING NEW " 

SENDING THE APOSTLES TO THE NATIONS THE 

BRITISH MISSION OPENED A SIGNIFICANT REVE- 
LATION HISTORICAL MATTERS FALL OF FAR 

WEST, AND IMPRISONMENT OF THE PROPHET. 

"About this time/' says Joseph, "the spirit of 
speculation in lands and property of all kinds, which 
was so prevalent throughout the whole nation, was 
taking deep root in the church. As the fruits of 
this spirit, evil surmisings, fault-finding, disunion, 
dissension, and apostacy followed in quick succes- 
sion, and it seemed as though all the powers of 
earth and hell were combining their influence in an 
especial manner to overthrow the church, * * * 
and many became disaffected towards me as though 
I were the sole cause of those very evils I was most 
strenuously striving against, and which were ac- 
tually brought upon us by the brethren not giving 
heed to my counsel. 

11 Xo quorum in the church was entirely free from 
the influence of those false spirits who were striving 
against me for the mastery. Even some of the 
Twelve were so far lost to their high and responsi- 
ble calling as to begin to take sides, secretly, with 
the enemy. 



232 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" In this state of things God revealed to me that 
something new must be done for the salvation of his 
church. And on or about the 1st of June, 1837, 
Heber C. Kimball, one of the Twelve, was set apart 
by the spirit of prophecy and revelation, prayer and 
the laying on of hands of the first presidency, to 
preside over a mission to England, to be the first 
foreign mission of the church of Christ in the last 
days." 

Concerning this very important mission and crisis 
of the church, Heber C. Kimball says : 

"On or about the 1st of June, 1837, the prophet 
Joseph came to me while I was seated in the front 
stand, above the sacrament table on the Melchise- 
dek side of the Temple, in Kirtland, and whispering 
to me, said, ' Brother Heber, the spirit of the Lord 
has whispered to me, Let my servant Heber go to 
England and proclaim my gospel and open the door 
of salvation to that nation.' 

" The idea of being appointed to such an import- 
ant mission was almost more than I could bear up 
under. I truly felt my weakness and unworthiness, 
yet the moment I understood the will of my heav- 
enly Father, I felt a determination to go at all 
hazards, believing that he would support me by his 
almighty power." 

In accordance with this appointment, Heber, with 
Orson Hyde, Willard Richards and Joseph Field- 
ing, who had been added to the apostolic embassy, 
set out for New York on the 13th of June. 

It is proper to here state that many of Heber's 
brethren openly dissuaded him from undertaking 
this mission, offering every discouragement that 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 233 

could be suggested. But although added to these 
there were serious financial embarrassments to be 
overcome, Heber and his brethren went dauntlessly 
forward, and, embarking at New York on the ist of 
July, they reached Liverpool on the 20th of the 
same month, after a pleasant and healthful voyage. 
Proceeding thence to Preston, a city about thirty 
miles distant, they were permitted to occupy the 
pulpit of the Rev. James Fielding, on the afternoon 
and evening of Sunday, July 23d. "Thus," says 
Joseph, "was the key turned, and the door opened 
to the inhabitants of England." 

The Prophet, continuing his narrative, says, "The 
same day that the gospel was first preached in Eng- 
land I received the following word of the Lord 
unto Thomas B. Marsh, concerning the Twelve 
Apostles of the Lamb : 

Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant 
Thomas, I have heard thy prayers, and thine alms 
have come up as a memorial before me, in behalf of 
those thy brethren who were chosen to bear testi- 
mony of my name, and to send it abroad among all 
nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, and ordained 
through the instrumentality of my servants. 

Verily I say unto you, there have been some few 
things in thine heart and with thee with which I, 
the Lord, was not well pleased; nevertheless, inas- 
much as thou hast abased thyself thou shalt be 
exalted ; therefore all thy sins are forgiven thee. 
Let thy heart be of good cheer before my face, and 
thou shalt bear record of my name, not only unto 
the Gentiles, but also unto the Jews; and thou shalt 
send forth my word unto the ends of the earth. 

Contend thou, therefore, morning by morning, 



234 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

and day after day let thy warning voice go forth, 
and when the night cometh, let not the inhabitants 
of the earth slumber because of thy speech. 

Let thy habitation be known in Zion, and remove 
not thy house, for I, the Lord, have a great work for 
thee to do, in publishing my name among the chil- 
dren of men ; therefore, gird up thy loins for the 
work. Let thy feet be shod also, for thou art chosen, 
and thy path lieth among the mountains, and among 
many nations; and by thy word many high ones 
shall be brought low, and by thy word many low 
ones shall be exalted. Thy voice shall be a rebuke 
unto the transgressor, and at thy rebuke let the 
tongue of the slanderer cease its perverseness. 

Be thou humble, and the Lord thy God shall Lead 
thee by the hand, and give the answer to thy pray- 
ers. I know thy heart, and have heard thy prayers 
concerning thy brethren. Be not partial towards 
them in love above many others, but let thy love be 
for them as for thyself; and let thy love abound 
unto all men, and unto all who love thy name. And 
pray for thy brethren of the twelve. Admonish 
them sharply for my name's sake, and let them be 
admonished for all their sins, and be ye faithful 
before me unto my name. And after their tempta- 
tions, and much tribulations, behold, I, the Lord, 
will feel after them, and if they harden not their 
hearts, and stiffen not their necks against me, they 
shall be converted, and I will heal them. 

Now, I say unto you, and what I say unto you, I 
say unto all the twelve, Arise and gird up your loins, 
take up your cross, follow me, and feed my sheep. 
Exalt not yourselves ; rebel not against my servant 
Joseph, for verily I say unto you, I am with him, and 
my hand shall be over him ; and the keys which I 
have given unto him, and also to youward, shall not 
be taken from him till I come. 

Verily I say unto you, my servant Thomas, Thou 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 235 

art the man whom I have chosen to hold the keys 
of my kingdom (as pertaining to the twelve) abroad 
among all nations, that thou mayest be my servant 
to unlock the door of the kingdom in all places 
where my servant Joseph, and my servant Sidney, 
and my servant Hyrum, cannot come; for on them 
have I laid the burden of all the churches for a 
little season ; wherefore, withersoever they shall 
send you, go ye, and I will be with you ; and in 
whatsoever place be shall proclaim my name, an 
effectual door shall be opened unto you, that they 
may receive my word ; whosoever receiveth my 
word receiveth me, and whosoever receiveth me, 
receiveth those (the first presidency) whom I have 
sent, whom I have made counsellors for my name's 
sake unto you. 

And again, I say unto you, That whosoever ye 
shall send in my name, by the voice of your breth- 
ren, the twelve, duly recommended and authorized 
by you, shall have power to open the door of my 
kingdom unto any nation whithersoever ye shall 
send them, inasmuch as they shall humble them- 
selves before me, and abide in my word, and hearken 
to the voice of my spirit. 

Verily, verily I say unto you, Darkness coverth 
the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the peo- 
ple, and all flesh has become corrupt before my 
face. Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the 
inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of 
burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourn- 
ing, and of lamentation, and as a whirlwind it shall 
come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord. 

And upon my house shall it begin, and from my 
house shall it go forth, saith the Lord. First among 
those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed 
to know my name and have not known me, and have 
blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, 
saith the Lord. 



2$& LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Therefore, see to it that ye trouble not yourselves 
concerning the affairs of my church in this place, 
saith the Lord ; but purify your hearts before me, 
and then go ye into all the world, and preach my 
gospel unto every creature who has not received it, 
and he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, 
and he that believeth not, and is not baptized, shall 
be damned. 

For unto you (the twelve), and those (the first 
presidency) who are appointed with you, to be your 
counsellors and your leaders, is the power of this 
priesthood given, for the last days and for the last 
time, in the which is the dispensation of the fullness 
of times, which power you hold in connection with 
all those who have received a dispensation at any 
time from the beginning of the creation ; for verily 
I say unto you, the keys of the dispensation which 
ye have received, have come down from the fathers ; 
and last of all, being sent down from heaven unto 
you. 

Verily I say unto you, Behold how great is your 
calling. Cleanse your hearts and your garments, 
lest the blood of this generation be required at your 
hands. Be faithful until I come, for I come quickly, 
and my reward is with me to recompense every man 
according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and 
Omega. Amen. 

At this point of the Prophet's history let the 
reader recall the promise made to him by the angel 
Moroni, in the year 1823 : 

"He called me by name and said unto me that 
he was a messenger sent from the presence of God, 
and that his name was Moroni. That God had a 
work for me to do, and that my name should be 
had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds 
and tongues; or that it should be both good and 
evil spoken of among all people." 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 2$J 

See in this what a marvelous test we have given 
us of the Prophet's mission, and the divine call that 
gave it birth! It is not in the power of investiga- 
tion in modern times, to prove any of the ancients, 
with so sharp an exactness, as we can this man 
Joseph Smith; for we have before the eye of the 
present both the rule and the history — the prophecy 
and the fulfillment as on one connected page. 

In 1837, we behold the Apostles and Elders 
going to foreign nations. In their mission is the 
test of the prophecy of Moroni to Joseph fourteen 
years before. Moreover, this is an angel's proph- 
ecy, ana not that of a mortal. Joseph is but the 
subject of it, not the "Month." If this fails, the 
dispensation proves itself to be a mere fraud, patent 
to all the Elders who, in 1837, had long known of 
Moroni's promise. No matter how great should be 
the success of this gospel in America, unless it goes 
also to "all nations, kindreds, and tongues]' the word 
of the angel will be void; the strange fulfillment is 
to be in "this generation.'' Mark now how soon this 
came to pass. The Mormons and their Prophet 
have become known by their missionary activities, 
and Joseph's " name has been both good and evil 
spoken of among all people." 

"Thursday, July 27th," says Joseph, "I started 
from Kirtland, in company with elders Rigdon and 
Marsh, for the purpose of visiting the saints in 
Canada." 

Here it should be noticed that Brigham Young, 
on coming into the church in 1832, immediately 
journeyed into Canada, in quest of his brother 



238 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Joseph Young, who at that time was there in the 
capacity of a Methodist minister; and he twice re- 
turned to Canada on mission, building up branches 
of the church there. After this, in the Spring of 
1836, Apostle Parley P. Pratt went to the city of 
Toronto and accomplished a great work in Upper 
Canada. Joseph Fielding and sisters were there 
baptized by him, and through the Fielding family 
the work obtained a footing in England; Joseph 
Fielding, as we have seen, being one of the mis- 
sionaries to that land, while his brother's church in 
Preston was the first place in which the apostles 
preached, and from that brother's flock was organ- 
ized the first branch of the Latter-day Church in 
England. 

But undoubtedly Parley's greatest result in Can- 
ada was the baptism of John Taylor (now President 
of the Twelve, and successor of Brigham Young). 
To visit the church under Elder Taylor was Joseph's 
purpose in going to Upper Canada at that period. 

Returning to Kirtland about the last of August, 
Joseph dispatched by the hand of Thomas B. Marsh 
a letter to the church in Zion, setting forth the em- 
barrassments and dissensions in the church in Kirt- 
land, and inclosing a minute of the summary pro- 
ceedings by which the eruption had been grappled 
with, and recommending the same to the church in 
Zion in case of a similar contingency. 

The letter and minutes referred to are, like many 
other interesting documents of that period, necessa- 
rily omitted from this work; but they are here men- 
tioned for the purpose of calling attention to the 
magnitude of the difficulties that then so far menaced 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 239 

the church as to finally cause the falling away of 
Thomas B. Marsh. But it may be supplementally 
stated of him that he thirty years afterwards went 
up to the mountains to die. 

Just such an example occurred in the ministry of 
Jesus at Jerusalem, insomuch that he, turning to 
Peter and the more stable of his apostles, said, " Will 
ye also go away?" and Peter answered, "Lord, 
whither shall we go seeing thou hast the words of 
eternal life ?" 

Omitting much of the detail of those times, let 
us follow Joseph to Far West, Mo. May 18th, 
1838, he says: 

" I left Far West, in company with Sidney Rigdon, 
T. B. Marsh, D. W. Patten, Bishop Partridge, E. 
Higbee, S. Carter, Alanson Ripley, and many others, 
for the purpose of visiting the north country and 
laying off a stake of Zion, making locations, and 
laying claims to facilitate the gathering of the saints, 
and for the benefit of the poor, in upbuilding the 
church of God." 

Pursuing their journey for two days, they reached 
a point on Grand River, which they proceeded to 
locate and lay claim to for a city plat, and which the 
brethren named Spring Hill, "but," says Joseph, 
11 by the mouth of the Lord it was named Adam- 
ondi-ahman, because, said he, it is the place where 
Adam shall come to visit his people, or the ancient 
oi days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel the Prophet." 

The party remained in this vicinity about eight 
days, exploring, surveying, and locating lands, and 
the new city of Adam-ondi-ahman thereafter re- 
ceived considerable attention from the Prophet. 



24O LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

The 4th of July was made the occasion for a grand 
celebration by the saints in Far West, which in- 
cluded in its ceremonies the laying of the several 
corner-stones of the contemplated " Lord's House," 
and was brilliantly sustained by music and the mil- 
itary. 

In the meantime the saints in Kirtland, admon- 
ished by vision and prophecy, determined to gather 
to Far West; and on the 5th of July they pitched 
their tents near the temple, and on the following 
morning moved out, five hundred and fifteen strong. 

On the 8th, with a touch of the genuine spirit of 
the Ancient, Joseph wrote in his epistle to the 
authorities at Kirtland : " Is there not room enough 
upon the mountains of Adam-ondi-ahman, and upon 
the plains of Olaha Shinehah, or the land where 
Adam dwelt, that you should covet that which is but 
the drop, and neglect the more weighty matters ? 
Therefore come up hither unto the land of my peo- 
ple, even Zion." 

On that same day was also given that particular 
revelation to the Twelve, so often the subject of 
historical sermons by the apostles in after days ; for 
Missouri gave a formal "challenge to the church of 
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," that "though all 
the rest of Joe Smith's revelations should be fulfilled 
this one should not." As will be presently seen, 
when the State of Missouri cast Joseph into prison, 
Brigham and the other apostles took up the chal- 
lenge. The revelation is as follows : 

"Verily, thus saith the Lord, let a conference be 
held immediately, let the Twelve be organized, and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 24 1 

let men be appointed to supply the place of those 
who are fallen. Let my servant Thomas remain for 
a season in the land of Zion, to publish my word. 
Let the residue continue to preach irom that hour, 
and if they will do this in all lowliness of heart, in 
meekness and humility, and long suffering, I, the 
Lord, give unto them a promise that I will provide 
for their families, and an effectual door shall be 
opened for them, from henceforth; and next Spring 
let them depart to go over the great waters, and 
there promulgate my gospel, the fullness thereof, 
and bear record of my name. Let them take leave 
of my saints in the city of Far West, on the 26th 
day of April next, on the building spot of my house, 
saith the Lord. 

Let my servant John Taylor, and also my servant 
John E. Page, and also my servant Wilford Wood- 
ruff, and also my servant Willard Richards be ap- 
pointed to fill the places of those who have fallen, 
and be officially notified of their appointment. 

On Sunday, July 29th, Elders Kimball and Hyde, 
having just returned from England, preached at Far 
West. 

The saints were now rapidly gathering from Can- 
ada, and Ohio, and elsewhere, to Far West ; but 
Zion failed to obey her own law ; the judgment 
foretold came : " Lo your enemies are upon you ; 
ye shall be scourged from city to city, and but few 
shall stand to receive an inheritance." All Mis- 
souri rose in arms against them. To the climax 
of those events we must hasten, for the full history 
of them is a volume in itself. 

The famous battle of Crooked River was fought, 
in which Apostle Patten and young O'Banion fell ; 
the horrible massacre at Haun's Mill, and other 

16 



242 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

appalling atrocities were perpetrated ; and as Joseph 
stood over the remains of the first apostolic martyr 
of the latter-days, he exclaimed, "There lies a man 
who has done just as he said he would — he has laid 
down his life for his friends." Such an example 
could but touch the heart of Joseph deeply, for in 
his own soul was the prophecy of a similar fate. 
Immediately came the following: 

Headquarters Militia, ) 

City of Jefferson, Mo., Oct. 27, 1838. J 
Sir: 

Since the order of the morning to you, directing 
you to cause four hundred mounted men to be raised 
within your division, I have received by Amos 
Rees, Esq., and Wiley E. Williams, Esq., one of my 
aids, information of the most appalling character, 
which changes the whole face of things, and places 
the Mormons in the attitude of open and avowed 
defiance of the laws, and of having made war upon 
the people of this State. Your orders are, there- 
fore, to hasten your operations and endeavor to 
reach Richmond, Ray Co., with all possible speed. 
The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and 
must be exterminated, or driven from the State, if 
necessary, for the public good. Their outrages are 
beyond all description. If you can increase your 
force, you are authorized to do so to any extent you 
may think necessary. I have just issued orders to 
Major-General Wallock, of Marion Co., to raise five 
hundred men, and to march them to the northern 
part of Davies, and there to unite with Gen. Doni- 
phan, of Clay, who has been ordered with five hun- 
dred men to proceed to the same point, for the 
purpose of intercepting the retreat of the Mormons 
to the north. They have been directed to communi- 
cate with you by express ; you can also communicate 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 243 

with them if you find it necessary Instead, there- 
fore, of proceeding, as at first directed, to rein- 
state the citizens of Davies in their homes, you 
will proceed immediately to Richmond, and there 
operate against the Mormons. Brigadier-General 
Parks, of Ray, has been ordered to have four hun- 
dred men of his brigade in readiness to join you at 
Richmond. The whole force will be placed under 
your command. 

L. W. Boggs, 
Gov. and Commander-in-Chief. 
To General Clark. 

Great excitement now prevailed, and mobs were 
heard of in every direction. House-burning and 
general spoliation of the Mormon settlers was in- 
dulged in indiscriminately, and the affairs of the 
saints seemed to be culminating in a fearful doom. 

Of the final fall of Far West, Joseph relates: 

" On the 30th of October a large company of 
armed soldiery were seen approaching Far West. 
They came up near to the town, and then drew 
back about a mile, and encamped for the night. 
We were informed that they were militia, ordered 
out by the Governor for the purpose of stopping 
our proceedings, it having been represented to his 
Excellency, by wicked and designing men from 
Davies, that we were the aggressors, and had com- 
mitted outrages in Davies, &c. They had not yet 
got the Governor's order of extermination, which, I 
believe, did not arrive till the next day. 

"Wednesday, 31st. The militia of Far West 
guarded the city the past night, and threw up a 
temporary fortification of wagons, timber, &c, on 
the south. The sisters, many of them, were engaged 



244 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

in gathering up their most valuable effects, fearing a 
terrible battle in the morning, and that the houses 
might be fired, and they obliged to flee, the enemy 
being five to one against us. 

"About eight o'clock a flag was sent, which was 
met by several of our people, and it was hoped that 
matters would be satisfactorily arranged after the 
officers had heard a true statement of all the cir- 
cumstances. Colonel Hinkle went to meet the flag-. 
and secretly made an engagement, ist. To give up 
their [the church's] leaders to be tried and pun- 
ished; 2d. To make an appropriation of their prop- 
erty — all who had taken up arms — to the payment 
of their debts, and indemnity for damage done by 
them ; 3d. That the balance should leave the State, 
and be protected out by the militia, but be permitted 
to remain under protection until further orders were 
received from the Commander-in-Chief; 4th. To 
give up the arms of every description, to be re- 
ceipted for. 

" The enemy was reinforced by about one thou- 
sand five hundred men to-day, and news of the 
destruction of property by the mob reached us from 
every quarter. 

" Towards evening I was waited upon by Colonel 
Hinkle, who stated that the officers of the militia 
desired to have an interview with me and some 
others, hoping that the difficulties might be settled 
without having occasion to carry into effect the ex- 
terminating orders which they had received from 
the Governor. I immediately complied with the 
request, and in company with elders Rigdon and 
Pratt, Colonel Wight and George W. Robinson, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 245 

went into the camp of the militia. But judge of 
my surprise, when, instead of being treated with that 
respect which is due from one citizen to another, we 
were taken as prisoners of war, and were treated 
with the utmost contempt. The officers would not 
converse with us, and the soldiers, almost to a man, 
insulted us as much as they felt disposed, breathing 
out threats against me and my companions. I can- 
not begin to tell the scene which I there witnessed. 
The loud cries and yells of more than one thousand 
voices, which rent the air and could be heard for 
miles, and the horrid and blasphemous threats and 
curses which were poured upon us in torrents, were 
enough to appall the stoutest heart. In the evening 
we had to lie down on the cold ground, surrounded 
by a strong guard, who were only kept back by the 
power of God from depriving us of life. We peti- 
tioned the officers to know why we were thus 
treated, but they utterly refused to give us any 
answer or to converse with us. * * * 

"Thursday, Nov. ist. Brothers Hyrum Smith 
and Amasa Lyman were brought prisoners into 
camp. They held a court-martial and sentenced us 
to be shot, on Friday morning, on the public square. 
* * * However, notwithstanding their sentence 
and determination, they were not permitted to carry 
their murderous sentence into execution. * * * 
The militia then went into the town, and without 
any restraint whatever plundered the houses and 
abused the innocent and unoffending inhabitants. 
They went to my house and drove my family out of 
doors. * * * Gen. Lucas ordered the Caldwell 
militia to give up their arms, and the brethren gave 



246 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

them up, — their own property, which no government 
on earth had a right to require. * * * We 
were taken to the town, into the public square, and 
before our departure from Far West, were, after 
much entreaty, permitted to see our families, being 
attended all the while with a strong guard. * * * 
I was then taken back to camp, and then with Sid- 
ney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, Parley P. Pratt, Lyman 
Wight, Amasa Lyman, and George W. Robinson, 
was started off for Independence, Jackson Co., and 
encamped at night on Crooked River, under a 
strong guard commanded by Generals Lucas and 
Wilson." 

The Prophet is now a prisoner for the "testimony 
of Jesus." 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE " MORMON* WARS" THE PRISONERS CONTINUE 

THEIR MARCH EVENTS IN FAR WEST ARRAIGN- 
MENT AND PRELIMINARY TRIAL OF THE PROPHET • 

AND HIS BRETHREN THEIR COMMITMENT TO 

LIBERTY JAIL. 

Xot a little singular is it that these military per- 
secutions of the Mormons have, from the first, been 
dignified bv the name of " Mormon War." Thus 
from the beginnine, so that there have already been 
three distinct " Mormon Wars" in America: one in 
the State of Missouri, one in Illinois, and one in 
Utah. But quite as singular is the fact that from 
about the date of events just recorded Joseph began 
to prophesy to his disciples that each State where 
the saints might settle would thus make war upon 
them; and stranger still, that finally the United 
States would "come up against Zion to battle." 
All of which has been verified to the letter, as wit- 
ness the expulsion of Xauvoo, later on, and finally 
Buchanan's crusade, when Albert Sidney Johnson 
led the army of the United States against the saints 
in the mountain fastnesses of Utah. 

But to return to the current record. The march 



248 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

of the victorious troops with the "prisoners of war" 
is thus detailed in the Prophet's diary: 

" Saturday, 3d. We continued our march and 
arrived at the Missouri river, which separated us 
from Jackson Co., where we were hurried across the 
ferry when but few troops had passed. The truth 
was, Gen. Clark had sent an express from Richmond 
to Gen. Lucas to have the prisoners sent to him, 
and thus prevent our going to Jackson Co.; both 
armies being competitors for the honor of possess- 
ing ''the royal prisoners." Clark wanted the privi- 
lege of putting us to death himself, and Lucas and 
his troops were desirous of exhibiting us in the 
streets of Independence. 

" Sunday, 4th. We were visited by some ladies 
and gentlemen. One of the women came up and 
very candidly inquired of the troops which of the 
prisoners was the Lord whom the Mormons wor- 
shipped. One of the guard pointed to me with a 
significant smile, and said, 'This is he.' The woman, 
then turning to me, inquired whether I professed to 
be the Lord and Saviour. I replied that I professed 
to be nothing but a man and a minister of salvation 
sent by Jesus Christ to preach the gospel. This 
answer so surprised the woman that she began to 
inquire into our doctrine, and I preached a discourse, 
both lo her and her companions, and to the won- 
dering soldiers, who listened with almost breathless 
attention, while I set forth the doctrine of faith in 
Jesus Christ, and repentance, and baptism for re- 
mission of sins, with the promise of the Holy Ghost, 
as recorded in the second chapter of the Acts of 
the Apostles. The woman was satisfied, and praised 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 249 

God in the hearing of the soldiers, and went away, 

praying that God would protect and deliver us. 
#. * f * , * * 

" The troops having crossed the river about ten 
o'clock, we proceeded on and arrived at Independ- 
ence, past noon, in the midst of great rain and a 
multitude of spectators who had assembled to see 
us and hear the bugles sound a blast of triumphant 
joy, which echoed through the camp as we were 
ushered into a vacant house prepared for our recep- 
tion, with a floor for our beds and blocks of wood 
for our pillows. * * * 

" Monday, 5th. We were kept under a small 
guard, and were treated with some degree of hos- 
pitality and politeness, while many flocked to see us. 
We spent most of our time in preaching and con- 
versation, explanatory of our doctrines and practice, 
which removed mountains of prejudice, and enlisted 
the populace in our favor." 

Of the departure from Far West, Parley P. Pratt, 
a fellow-prisoner, thus touchingly relates: 

" This was the most trying scene of all. I went 
to my house, being guarded by two or three soldiers. 
The cold rain was pouring down without, and on 
entering my little cottage there lay my wife sick of 
a fever, with which she had been for some time con- 
fined. At her breast was our son Nathan, an infant 
of three months, and by her side a little girl of five 
years. On the foot of the same bed lay a woman in 
travail, who had been driven from her house in the 
night, and had taken momentary shelter in my hut 
of ten feet square — my larger house having been 
torn down. I stepped to the bed ; my wife burst 



25O LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

into tears ; I spoke a few words of comfort, telling 
her to try to live for my sake and the children's, and 
expressing a hope that we should meet again though 
years might separate us. She promised to try to 
live. I then embraced and kissed the little babes, 
and departed. 

" As I returned from my house towards the troops 
in the square, I halted with the guard at the door 
of Hyrum Smith, and heard the sobs and groans of 
his wife at his parting words. She was then near 
confinement, and needed more than ever the com- 
fort and consolation of a husband's presence. As 
we returned to the wagon we saw Sidney Rigdon 
taking leave of his wife and daughters, who stood at 
a little distance in tears of anguish indescribable. 
In the wagon sat Joseph Smith, while his aged 
father and venerable mother came up overwhelmed 
with tears, and took each of the prisoners by the 
hand with a silence of grief too great for utterance." 

Returning to the conquered city, the story con- 
tinues : 

" The brethren at Far West were ordered by Gen. 
Clark to form a line, when the names of fifty-six 
present were called, and they were made prisoners 
to await trial for something they knew not. They 
were kept under a close guard." 

The narrative further relates that on the 6th 
Gen. Clark paraded the brethren at Far West, and 
delivered to them an address well suited to his char- 
acter, and in keeping with his errand thither. A 
specimen passage or two will illustrate the nature of 
this document: 

" The orders of the Governor to me were that 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 251 

you should be exterminated, and not allowed to re- 
main in the State; and had your leaders not been 
given up, and the terms of the treaty been complied 
with, before this you and your families would have 
been destroyed and your houses in ashes. * * * 
As for your leaders, do not once think — do not im- 
agine for a moment — do not let it enter your mind, 
that they will be delivered, or that you will see their 
faces aeain, for their fate is fixed — their die is cast 
— their doom is sealed." * * * 

The narrative, continuing, relates that these pris- 
oners were started off for Richmond, under a strong 
guard. Summary proceedings were also taken by 
the military mob against the settlers at Adam-ondi- 
ahman, the inhabitants being ordered from their 
homes by Gen. Wilson, — every family to be out 
within ten days, — with permission to tarry in Cald- 
well Co. until Spring, when they were to leave the 
State, under pain of extermination. 

The compliance with this heartless order entailed 
a vast deal of suffering, the weather being severe, 
and the saints being compelled to camp out in frost 
and snow. 

The record of these events closes with the brief 
but significant summary, " About thirty of the breth- 
ren have been killed, a multitude wounded, about a 
hundred are missing, and about sixty are at Rich- 
mond awaiting their trial — for what they know 
not." 

Orders having been given to that effect, the 
Prophet and fellow-prisoners were removed from 
Independence to Richmond, where they were put 
into an old vacant house and a guard set over them. 



252 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Of their treatment there, the very day of their 
arrival, Joseph says: 

" Col. Sterling Price came in with two chains in 
his hands and a number of padlocks. The two 
chains he fastened together. He had with him ten 
men, armed, who stood at the time of these opera- 
tions with a thumb upon the cock of their guns. 
They first nailed down the windows, then came and 
ordered a man by the name of John Fulkerson, 
whom he had with him, to chain us together with 
chains and padlocks, being seven in number. After 
that he searched us, examining our pockets to see if 
we had any arms. Finding nothing but pocket- 
knives, he took them and conveyed them off." 

Then, after much legal floundering on the part of 
the authorities, in an effort to discover some method 
of trying their innocent prisoners according to law, 
they were brought before a civil magistrate for trial, 
charged with no less crimes than those of high 
treason, murder, burglary, arson, robbery, and lar- 
ceny. 

The history of this trial, and the dealings of the 
court with the witnesses for the defence, is in itself 
a chapter of gross outrage and bigoted ruling. 
Suffice it to say the prisoners were all released or 
admitted to bail, except the Prophet, Lyman Wight, 
Caleb Baldwin, Hyrum Smith, Alexander McRae, 
and Sidney Rigdon, who were sent to Liberty, Clay 
Co., to stand trial on the charges of treason and 
murder; and Parley P. Pratt, Morris Phelps, Luman 
Gibbs, Darwin Chase, and Norman Shearer, who 
were put into Richmond jail for the same purpose. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 253 

" Friday, 30th. About this time," says Joseph's 
diary, " those of us who had been sentenced thereto, 
were conveyed to Liberty jail, put in close confine- 
ment, and all communication with our friends was 
cut off." 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE COURSE OF EVENTS — PROCEEDINGS OF THE MIS- 
SOURI LEGISLATURE HEROIC EFFORT TO SUCCOR 

THE POOR SAINTS THE COVENANT THERETO 

FULFILLING THE REVELATION CONCERNING THE 
APOSTLES THE EXODUS INTO ILLINOIS. 

While the Prophet is in jail, Israel falls under the 
leadership of Brigham Young and the Twelve — a 
type of what was to follow the martyrdom. But 
the Twelve aim only to fulfill what Joseph had 
designed, faithfully acting as he would have sug- 
gested, and patiently awaiting the course of events. 

In December, 1838, the Missouri Legislature hav- 
ing assembled, Gov. Boggs laid before them all the 
information in his possession relative to the difficul- 
ties between the mob-militia and the saints, while 
the brethren addressed to them the following state- 
ment, which is a well digested summary of the 
events of those times: 

To the Honorable Legislature of the State of Mis- 
souri, in Senate and House of Representatives 
convened: 

We, the undersigned petitioners and inhabitants 
of Caldwell Co., Mo., in consequence of the late 
calamity that has come upon us, taken in connection 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 255 

with former afflictions, feel it a duty we owe to our- 
selves and our country to lay our case before your 
honorable body for consideration. It is a well 
known fact that a society of our people commenced 
settling in Jackson Co., Mo., in the Summer of 183 1, 
where they, according to their ability, purchased 
lands, and settled upon them, with the intention 
and expectation of becoming permanent citizens in 
common with others. 

Soon after the settlement began, persecution be- 
gan ; and as the society increased, persecution also 
increased, until the society at last was compelled to 
leave the county; and although an account of these 
persecutions has been published to the world, yet 
we feel that it will not be improper to notice a few 
of the most prominent items in this memorial. 

On the 20th of July, 1833, a mob convened at 
Independence, a committee of which called upon a 
few of the men of our church there, and stated to 
them that the store, printing-office, and indeed all 
other mechanic shops, must be closed forthwith, and 
the society leave the county immediately. These 
propositions were so unexpected that a certain time 
was asked for to consider on the subject before an 
answer should be returned, which was refused, and 
our men being individually interrogated, each one 
answered that he could not consent to comply with 
their propositions. One of the mob replied that he 
was sorry, for the work of destruction would com- 
mence immediately. 

In a short time the printing office, which was a 
two-story building, was assailed by the mob and soon 
thrown down, and with it much valuable property 
destroyed. Next they went to the store for the 
same purpose, but Mr. Gilbert, one of the owners, 
agreeing to close it, they abandoned their design. 
Their next move was the dragging of Bishop Part- 
ridge from his house and family to the public square, 



256 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

where, surrounded by hundreds, they partially strip- 
ped him of his clothes, and tarred and feathered 
him from head to foot A man by the name of 
Allen was also tarred at the same time. This was 
Saturday, and the mob agreed to meet the following 
Tuesday, to accomplish their purpose of driving or 
massacreing the society. 

Tuesday came, and the mob came also, bearing 
with them a red flag in token of blood. Some two 
or three of the principal men of the society offered 
their lives, if that would appease the wrath of the 
mob, so that the rest of the society might dwell in 
peace upon their lands. The answer was that, un- 
less the society would leave en masse, every man 
should die for himself. Being in a defenceless situ- 
ation, to save a general massacre, it was agreed that 
one-half of the society should leave the county by 
the first of the next January, and the remainder by 
the first of the following April A treaty was entered 
into and ratified, and all things went on smoothly 
for a while. But some time in October the wrath 
of the mob began again to be kindled, insomuch 
that they shot at some of our people, whipped others, 
and threw down their houses, and committed many 
other depredations; indeed, the society of saints 
were harrassed for some time both day and night; 
their houses were brick-batted and broken open, 
women and children insulted, &c. The storehouse 
of A. S. Gilbert & Co. was broken open, ransacked, 
and some of the goods strewn in the streets. 

These abuses, with many others of a very aggra- 
vated nature, so stirred up the indignant feelings of 
our people that when a party of them, say about 
thirty, met a company of the mob of about double 
their number, a skirmish took place in which some 
two or three of the mob and one of our people were 
killed. This raised, as it were, the whole country 
in arms, and nothing would satisfy them but an 



4 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 257 

immediate surrender of the arms of our people, and 
they forthwith to leave the county. Fifty-one guns 
were given up, which have never been returned or 
paid for to this day. The next day parties of the mob, 
from fifty to seventy, headed by priests, went from 
house to house, threatening women and children 
with death if they were not off before they returned. 
This so alarmed them that they fled in different 
directions ; some took shelter in the woods, while 
others wandered in the prairies till their feet bled. 
In the meantime, the weather being very cold, their 
sufferings in other respects were very great. 

The society made their escape to Clay Co. as fast 
as they possibly could, where the people received 
them kindly and administered to their wants. After 
the society had left Jackson Co., their buildings, 
amounting to about two hundred, were either burned 
or otherwise destroyed ; and much of their crops, 
as well as furniture, stock, &c., which, if properly 
estimated, would make a large sum, for which they 
have not as yet received any remuneration. 

The society remained in Clay Co. nearly three 
years, when, at the suggestion of the people there, 
they removed to that section of the country known 
now as Caldwell Co. Here the people purchased 
out most of the former inhabitants, and also entered 
much of the wild land. * * * Here we were 
permitted to enjoy peace for a season; but as our 
society increased in numbers, and settlements were 
made in Davies and Caldwell Counties, the mob 
spirit spread itself again. For months previous to 
our giving up our arms to Gen. Lucas' army, we 
heard little else than rumors of mobs collecting in 
different places and threatening our people. It is 
well known that the people of our church, who had 
located themselves at DeWitt, had to give up to a 
mob and leave the place, notwithstanding the militia 
were called out for their protection. 

17 



258 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. * 

From DeWitt the mob went towards Davies Co., 
and while on their way there they took two of our 
men prisoners, and made them ride upon the cannon, 
and told them that they would drive the Mormons 
from Davies to Caldwell, and from Caldwell to h — 1, 
and that they would give them no quarter only at 
the cannon's mouth. The threats of the mob in- 
duced some of our people to go to Davies to help 
to protect their brethren who had settled at Diah- 
man, on Grand river. The mob soon fled from 
Davies Co., and after they were dispersed and the 
cannon taken, during which time no blood was shed, 
the people of Caldwell returned to their homes, in 
hopes of enjoying peace and quiet. But in this they 
were disappointed, for a large mob was soon found 
to be collecting on the Grindstone (fork of the 
Grand) river, from ten to fifteen miles off, under the 
command of Cornelius Gillum, a scouting party of 
which came within four miles of Far West, and 
drove off stock belonging to our people, in open 
daylight. 

About this time word came to Far West that a 
party of the mob had come into Caldwell County to 
the south of Far West ; that they were taking horses 
and cattle, burning houses, and ordering the inhab- 
itants to leave their homes immediately; and that 
they had then actually in their possession three men 
prisoners. This report reached Far West in the 
evening, and was confirmed about midnight. A 
company of about sixty men went forth under the 
command of David W. Patten, to disperse the mob, 
as they supposed. A battle was the result, in which 
Captain- Patten and two of his men were killed, and 
others wounded. Bogart, it appears, had but one 
killed and others wounded. Notwithstanding the un- 
lawful acts committed by Captain Bogart's men pre- 
vious to the battle, it is now asserted and claimed that 
he was regularly ordered out as a militia captain 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 259 

to preserve the peace along the line of Ray and 
CaldwelKCounties. That battle was fought four or 
five days previous to the arrival of Gen. Lucas and 
his army. About the time of the battle with Cap- 
tain Bogart.a number of our people who were living 
near Haun s'Mill, on Shoal Creek, about twenty 
miles below Far West, together with a number of 
emigrants who had been stopped there in conse- 
quence 'of the excitement, made an agreement with 
the mob which was about there that neither party 
should molest the other, but dwell in peace. Shortly 
after this agreement was made a mob party of from 
two to three hundred, many of whom are supposed 
to be from Chariton Co., some from Davies, and also 
those who had agreed to dwell in peace, came upon 
our people there, whose number in men was about 
forty, at a time they little expected any such thing, 
and without any ceremony, notwithstanding they 
begged for quarter, shot them down as they would 
tigers or panthers. Some few made their escape by 
fleeing. Eighteen were killed, and a number more 
were severely wounded. 

This tragedy was conducted in the most brutal 
and savage manner. An old man, after the massacre 
was partially over, threw himself into their hands 
and begged for quarter, when he was instantly shot 
down, That not killing him, they took an old corn- 
cutter and literally mangled him to pieces. A lad 
of ten years of age, after being shot down, also 
begged to be spared, when one of them placed the 
muzzle of his gun to his head and blew out his 
brains. The slaughter of these not satisfying the 
mob, they then proceeded to rob and plunder. The 
scene that presented itself after the massacre, to the 
widows and orphans of the killed, is beyond descrip- 
tion. It was truly a time of weeping, of mourning, 
and of lamentation. 

As yet we have not heard of any being arrested 



260 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

for these murders, notwithstanding there are men 
boasting about the county that they did kill on that 
occasion more than one Mormon ; whereas, all our 
people who were in the battle with Captain Patten 
against Bogart, that can be found, have been 
arrested, and are now confined in jail to await their 
trial for murder. 

When Gen. Lucas arrived near Far West and 
presented the Governor's order, we were 'greatly 
surprised, yet we felt willing to submit to the author- 
ities of the State. We gave up our arms without 
reluctance. We were then made prisoners, and 
confined to the limits of the town for about a week, 
during which time the men from the country were 
not permitted to go to their families, many of whom 
were in a suffering condition for the want of food and 
firewood, the weather being very cold and stormy. 

Much property was destroyed by the troops in 
town during their stay there, such as burning house- 
logs, rails, corn-cribs, boards, &c; the using of corn 
and hay, the plundering of houses, the killing of cat- 
tle, sheep and hogs, and also the taking of horses not 
their own. And all this without regard to owners, 
or asking leave of any one. In the meantime men 
were abused, women insulted and abused by the 
troops; and all this while we were kept prisoners. 

Whilst the town was guarded we were called to- 
gether by the order of Gen. Lucas, and a guard 
placed close around us, and in that situation were 
compelled to sign a deed of trust for the purpose of 
making our individual property all holden, as they 
said, to pay all the debts of every individual belong- 
ing to the church, and also to pay for all damages 
the old inhabitants of Davies may have sustained 
in consequence of the late difficulties in that county. 

Gen. Clark was now arrived, and the first import- 
ant move made by him was the collecting of our 
men together on the square, and selecting out about 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 261 

fifty of them, whom he immediately marched into a 
house and confined. This was done without the aid 
of the sheriff, or any legal process. The next day 
forty-six of those taken were driven, like a parcel of 
menial slaves, off to Richmond, not knowing why 
they were taken, or what they were taken for. * * 
Since Gen. Clark withdrew his troops from Far 
West, parties of armed men have gone through the 
county, driving off horses, sheep and cattle, and 
also plundering houses. The barbarity of Gen. 
Lucas' troops ought not to be passed over in silence. 
They shot our cattle and hogs merely for the sake 
of destroying them, leaving them for the ravens to 
eat. They took prisoner an aged man by the name 
of Tanner, and, without any reason for it, he was 
struck over the head with a gun, which laid his 
skull bare. Another man by the name of Cary was 
also taken prisoner by them, and without any prov- 
ocation had his brains dashed out by a gun. He 
was laid in a wagon, and there permitted to remain 
for the space of twenty-four hours, during which 
time no one was permitted to administer to him 
comfort or consolation ; and after he was removed 
from that situation he lived but a few hours. 

The destruction of property at and about Far 
West is very great. Many are stripped bare, as it 
were, and others partially so. Indeed, take us as a 
body at this time, we are a poor and afflicted people; 
and if we are compelled to< leave the State in the 
Spring, many, yes, a large portion of our society, will 
have to be removed at the expense of the State, as 
those who might have helped them are now debarred 
that privilege in consequence of the deed of trust 
we were compelled to sign, which deed so operated 
upon our real estate that it will sell for but little or 
nothing at this time. 

We have now made a brief statement of some of 
the most prominent features of the troubles that 



262 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

have befallen our people since our first settlement in 
this State, and we believe that these persecutions 
have come in consequence of our religious faith, 
and not for any immorality on our part. That in- 
stances have been of late where individuals have 
trespassed upon the rights of others, and thereby 
broken the laws of the land, we will not pretend to 
deny; but yet we do believe that no crime can be 
substantiated against any of the people who have a 
standing in our church of an earlier date than the 
difficulties in Davies Co. And when it is consid- 
ered that the rights of this people have been tram- 
pled upon from time to time with impunity, and 
abuses heaped upon them almost innumerable, it 
ought in some degree to palliate for any. infraction 
of the law which may have been made on the part 
of our people. 

The late order of Gov. Boggs to drive us from 
this State, or exterminate us, is a thing so novel, 
unlawful, tyrannical and oppressive, that we have 
been induced to draw up this memorial, and present 
this statement of our case to your honorable body, 
praying that a law may be passed rescinding the 
order of the Governor to drive us from the State, 
and also giving us the sanction of the Legislature 
to inherit our lands in peace. We ask an expression 
of the Legislature, disapproving of the conduct of 
those who compelled us to sign a deed of trust, and 
also disapproving of any man or set of men taking 
our property in consequence of that deed of trust, 
and appropriating it to the payment of damage sus- 
tained in consequence of trespasses committed by 
others. 

We have no common stock; our property is indi- 
vidual property, and we feel willing to pay our debts 
as other individuals do ; but we are not willing to 
be bound for other people's debts also. The arms 
which were taken from us here, which we understand 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 263 

to be about six hundred and thirty, besides swords 
and pistols, we care not so much about as we do the 
pay for them ; only we are bound to do military 
duty, which we are willing to do, and which we think 
was sufficiently manifested by the raising of a vol- 
unteer company last Fall, at Far West, when called 
upon by Gen. Parks to raise troops for the fron- 
tier. * * * 

In laying our case before your honorable body, 
we say that we are willing, and ever have been, to 
conform to the Constitution and laws of the United 
States and of this State. We ask, in common with 
others, the protection of the laws. We ask for the 
privilege guaranteed to all free citizens of the 
United States, and of this State, to be extended to 
us, that we may be permitted to settle and live 
where we please, and worship God according to the 
dictates of our conscience, without molestation. 
And while we ask for ourselves this privilege, we 
are willing all others should enjoy the same. 

We now lay our case at the feet of your Legisla- 
ture, and ask your honorable body to consider it, and 
do for us, after mature deliberation, that which your 
wisdom, patriotism and philanthropy may dictate. 
And we, as in duty bound, will ever pray, &c. 

Edward Partridge, 
Heber C. Kimball, 
John Taylor, 
Theodore Turley, 
Brigham Young, 
Isaac Morley, 
George W. Harris, 
John Murdoch:, 
John M. Burk. 
A committee appointed by the citizens of Cald- 
well Co. to draft this, memorial and sign it in their 
behalf. 

Far West, Caldwell Co., Mo., Dec. 10, 1838. 



264 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

The petition was duly presented and read in the 
House of Representatives, after which followed a 
hot and acrimonious discussion. The final outcome 
was an appropriation of two thousand dollars, by 
the Legislature, to aid the poor of Davies and Cald- 
well Counties (which, by the way, was farcically and 
ineffectually doled out), and another appropriation 
of two hundred thousand dollars, to pay the militia 
mob for their services in driving the people from 
their homes. 

On the 19th of December, 1838, the High Coun- 
cil of Zion met in Far West, and, among other 
matters, installed John Taylor and John E. Page in 
the Apostleship, to fill vacancies in the quorum of 
the Twelve. It was also determined to memorialize 
the General Government concerning their recent 
persecutions. 

In the month of January following, Brigham 
Young inaugurated a movement which sheds endur- 
ing lustre on his name, and, indeed, upon the 
Twelve. It was no less an undertaking than to 
remove all of the poor saints out of the State. 

When he broached the subject to the presiding 
bishop he was met with the discouraging answer, 
" The poor may take care of themselves, and I will 
take care of myself." But the prompt reply was 
ready and emphatic: "If you will not help them 
out, I will." Whereupon, at a meeting of the breth- 
ren, held Jan. 29th, 1839, as tne record shows, "On 
motion of President Brigham Young, it was resolved 
that we this day enter into a covenant to stand by 
and assist each other to the utmost of our abilities 
in removing from this State, and that we will never 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 265 

desert the poor who are worthy, till they shall be 
out of the reach of the exterminating order of Gen- 
eral Clark, acting for and in the name of the State." 
The covenant then made was as follows, with the 
honorable list of names then and afterwards at- 
tached, as far as they have been preserved: 

We, whose names are hereunder written, do each 
for ourselves individually covenant to stand by and 
assist each other, to the utmost of our abilities, in 
removing from this State in compliance with the 
authority of the State; and we do hereby acknowl- 
edge ourselves firmly bound to the extent of all our 
available property, to be disposed of by a committee 
who shall be appointed for that purpose, for provid- 
ing means for the removing of the poor and destitute 
who shall be considered worthy, from this country, 
till there shall not be one left who desires to remove 
from the State: with this proviso, that no individual 
shall be deprived of the right of the disposal of his 
own property for the above purpose, or of having 
the control of it, or so much of it as shall be neces- 
sary for the removing of his own family, and to be 
entitled to the overplus after the work is effected; 
and furthermore, said committee shall give receipts 
for all property, and an account of the expenditure 
of the same. 

Signed: John Smith, James McMillan, William 
Huntington, Chandler Holbrook, Charles Bird, 
Alexander Wright, Alanson Ripley, William Taylor, 
Theodore Turley, John Taylor, Daniel Shearer, 
Reuben P. Hartwell, Shadrach Roundy, John Low- 
ry, Jonathan H. Hale, Welcome Chapman, Elias 
Smith, Solomon Hancock, Ijrigham Young. Arza 
Adams, James Burnham, Henry Jacobs, Leicester 
Gaylor, James Carroll, Samuel Williams, David 
Lyons, John Miller, John Taylor, Aaron M. York, 



266 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Don Carlos Smith, Geo. A. Smith, Wm. J. Stewart, 
Daniel Howe, Isaac B. Chapman, James Bradin, 
Roswell Stephens, Jonathan Beckelshimer, Reuben 
Headlock, David Jones, David Holman, Wm. Faw- 
cet, Joel Goddard, Charles N. Baldwin, Phineas R. 
Bird, Jesse N. Reed^ Duncan McArthur, Benjamin 
Johnson, Allen TalJey, Jonathan Hampton, James 
Hampton, Anson Call, Sherman A. Gilbert, Peter 
Dopp, James S. Holman, Samuel Rolph, Andrew 
Lytle, Abel Lamb, Aaron Johnson, Daniel Mc- 
Arthur, Heber C. Kimball, Wm. Gregory, George 
W. Harris, Zenas Curtis, George W. Davidson, John 
Reed, Harvey Strong, William R. Orton, Elizabeth 
Mackley, Samuel D. Tyler, Sarah Mackley, John H. 
Goff, Andrew More, Thomas Butterfield, Harvey 
Downey, Dwight Hardin, John Maba, Norville N. 
Head, Lucy Wheeler, Steven V. Foote, John Terpin, 
Jacob G. Bigler, William Earl, Eli Bagley, Zenas H. 
Gurley, Wm. Milam, Joseph W T . Cooledge, Lorenzo 
Clark, Anthony Head, Wm. Allred, S. A. P. Kelsey, 
Wm. Van Ansdell, Moses Evord, Nathan K. Knight, 
Ophelia Harris, Zuba McDonald. John Thorp, An- 
drew Rose, Mary Goff, John S. Martin, Harvey J. 
More, Albert Sloan, Francis Chase, John D. Lee, 
Stephen Markham, Eliphas Marsh, John Outhouse, 
Joseph Wright, William F. Leavens, John Badger, 
Daniel Tyler, Levi Richards, Noah Rogers, Erastus 
Bingham, Stephen N. St. John, Elisha Everett, 
Francis Lee, John Lytle, Eli Lee, Levi Jackman, 
Benjamin Covey, Thomas Guyman, Michael Bork- 
dull, Nahum Curtis, Miles Randall, Lyman Curtis, 
Horace Evans, Philip Ballard, David Dort, William 
Gould, Levi Hancock, Reuben Middleton, Edwin 
Whiting, Wm. Harper, Wm. Barton, Seba Joas, 
Elisha Smith, Chas. Butler, James Gallaher, Richard 
Walton, Robert Jackson, Isaac Kerron, Lemuel 
Merrick, Joseph Rose, James Dun, David Foote, 
Orrin Hartshorn, L. S. Nickerson, Nathan Hawke, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 267 

Moses Daley, Pierce Hawley, David Sessions, Thos. 
F. Fisher, P. G. Sessions, James Leithead, Alfred 
P. Childs, Alfred Lee, James Daley, Stephen Jones, 
Noah T. Guyman, Eleazer Harris, David Winters, 
Elijah B. Gaylord, John Pack, Thomas Grover, Syl- 
venas Hicks, Alex. Badlam, Horatio N. Kent, Phebe 
Kellog, Joseph \V. Pierce, Albert Miner, Thomas 
Gates, \Vm. Woodland, Squire Bozarth, Martin C. 
Allred, Nathan Lewis, Jedediah Owen, Philander 
Avery, Orrin P. Rockwell, Benjamin F. Bird, Chas. 
Squire, Truman Brace, Jacob Curtis, Sarah Wixom, 
Rachel Medio, Lewis Zobriski, Lyman Stephens, 
Henry Zobriski, Roswell Evans, Morris Harris, 
Leonard Clark, Absolom Tidwell, Nehemiah Har- 
mon, Alvin Winnegar, Daniel Cathcart, Samuel 
Winnegar, Gershom Stokes, John E. Page, Rachel 
Page, Levi GifTord, Barnet Cole, Edmund Durfee, 
Win. Tompson, Josiah Butterfield, Nathan Cheeney, 
John Killian, James Sherry, John Patten, David 
Frampton, John Wilkins, Eliz. Pettegrew, A bra in 
Allen, Chas. Tompson, William Felshaw. 

The following from Brigham Young's journal 
quickly carries the action from Missouri into Illinois: 

"In February, 1839, I ^ e ^ Missouri, with my 
family, leaving my landed property and also my 
household o^oods, and went to Illinois, to a little 
town called Atlas, Pike Co., where I tarried a few 
weeks, then moved to Ouincy. 

" I held a meeting with the brethren of the 
Twelve and the members of' the church in Quincy, 
on the 17th of March, when a letter was read to the 
people from the committee on behalf of the saints at 
Far West, who were left destitute of the means to 
move. Though the brethren were poor, and stripped 
of almost everything, yet they manifested a spirit of 



268 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

willingness to do their utmost ; offering to sell their 
hats, coats and shoes, to accomplish the object. 
We broke bread and partook of the sacrament. At 
the close of the meeting fifty dollars in money was 
collected, and several teams were subscribed to go 
and bring the brethren. Among the subscribers 
was the widow of Warren Smith, whose husband 
and son had their brains blown out at the massacre 
of Haun's Mill. She sent her only team on this 
charitable mission." 

But there remained unfulfilled the revelation to 
the Twelve, before noted, and it would seem that it 
had now become well-nigh impossible of fulfillment. 
The saints were now in banishment, and the Twelve 
could only return to Far West at the imminent risk 
of their lives. Many of the authorities of the church 
urged that the Lord would not require the Twelve 
to fulfill this revelation to the letter, but would take 
the will for the deed. " But," says Brigham, u I felt 
differently, and so did those of the quorum who 
were with me. I asked them, individually, what 
their feelings were upon the subject. They all ex- 
pressed their desire to fulfill the revelation. I told 
them the Lord had spoken, and it was our duty to 
obey, and leave the event in his hands, and he would 
protect us." 

The Twelve started. Far West was reached in 
safety. The mob was vigilant, but the apostles 
escaped notice by hiding in a grove. Early on the 
morning of the elect day, April 26th, they held 
their conference, " cut off" thirty-one persons from 
the church, and proceeded to the building spot of 
the "Lord's House," where Elder Cutler, the master 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 269 

workman of the house, recommenced laying the 
foundation by rolling up a large stone near the 
south-east corner. Those of the Twelve present 
proceeded to ordain Wilford Woodruff and George 
A. Smith to the apostleship, in place of those who 
had fallen. They then offered up vocal prayer, each 
in their order, beginning with President Young, 
after which they sung " Adam-ondi-ahman," and 
took leave of the saints according to the revelation. 

" Thus," says Brigham, " was this revelation ful- 
filled, concerning which our enemies said if a!l the 
other revelations of Joseph Smith came to pass,that 
one should not be fulfilled, as it had date and place 
to it." 

But it would be impossible to chronicle all of the 
events of the removal of the church into Illinois. 
Return we, therefore, to the Prophet in prison. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

INCIDENTS OF THE PROPHET'S IMPRISONMENT HIS 

EPISTLE TO THE CHURCH A PERSONAL REVE- 
LATION REBUKING THE GUARD. 

During the Prophet's incarceration in Liberty jail 
he addressed several notable epistles to the brethren. 
We cannot do better than to here reproduce some 
of their most striking points. Under date of Dec. 
16th, 1838, he says : 

u * * # Know assuredly, dear brethren, that it 
is for the testimony of Jesus that we are in bonds 
and in prison. But we say unto you that we con- 
sider our condition to be better (notwithstanding 
our sufferings) than those who have persecuted us, 
and smitten us, and borne false witness against us. 

" Dear brethren, do not think that our hearts 
faint, as though some strange thing had happened 
unto us, for we have seen and been assured of all 
these things beforehand, and have an assurance of a 
better hope than that of our persecutors. There- 
fore God hath made broad our shoulders for the 
burden. We glory in our tribulation, because we 
know that God is with us, that he is our friend, and 
that he will save our souls. * * * * Let truth 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 2*]\ 

and righteousness prevail and abound in you ; and 
in all things be temperate ; abstain from drunken- 
ness, and from swearing, and from all profane lan- 
guage, and from everything which is unrighteous or 
unholy; also from enmity, and hatred, and covet- 
ousness. *■ * * Be honest one with another, for 
it seemeth that some have come short of these 
things, and some have been uncharitable. * * * 
Remember that whatsoever measure you mete out 
to others, it shall be measured to you again." 

This was his diary minute for the close of 1838: 
"Some time in December, Heber C. Kimball and 
Alanson Ripley were appointed, by the brethren in 
Far West, to visit us at Liberty jail as often as cir- 
cumstances would permit, or occasion required, which 
they faithfully performed. We were sometimes vis- 
ited by our friends, whose kindness and attention I 
shall ever remember with feelings of lively grati- 
tude; but frequently we were not suffered to have 
that privilege. Our victuals were of the coarsest 
kind, and served up in a manner which was dis- 
gusting. 

" Thus, in a land of liberty, in the town of Liberty, 
Clay Co., Missouri, I and my fellow-prisoners, in 
chains, dungeons, and jail, saw the close of 1838." 

Under date of March 20th, 1839, ne wrote a strik- 
ing epistle from Liberty jail, from which we extract 
as follows: "May knowledge be multiplied unto you 
by the mercy of God, and may faith, and virtue, and 
knowledge, and temperance, and patience, and god- 
liness, and brotherly kindness, and charity, be in 
you and abound, that you may not be barren in 
anything nor unfruitful. * * * O God! where 



2 72 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

1 

art thou? And where is the pavillion that covereth 
thy hiding place ? How long shall thy hand be 
stayed, and thine eye, yea, thy pure eye, behold 
from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people, 
and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated 
with their cries? * * Remember thy suffering 
saints, O our God ! and thy servants will rejoice in 
thy name forever." 

And this epistle was by no means a mere rhap- 
sody, but filled with solid counsel upon matters then 
pending. In the second portion of it is the follow- 
ing somewhat unique view of the disposal of affairs 
in the courts above: "* * There seems to be a 
whispering that the angels of heaven who have been 
entrusted with the council of these matters for the 
last days, have taken counsel together; and among 
the rest of the general affairs that have to be trans- 
acted in their honorable council, they have taken 
cognizance of the testimony of those who were mur- 
dered ^t Haun's Mills, and also those who were 
martyred with D. W. Patten, and elsewhere, and 
have passed some decisions, peradventure, in favor 
of the saints, and those who were called to suffer 
without cause. These decisions will be made known 
in their time, and they will take into consideration 
all those things that offend." 

And concerning the priesthood these ever timely 
words ; " * * The rights of the priesthood are 
inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, 
and the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor 
handled only upon the principles of righteousness. 
That they may be conferred upon us, is true; but 
when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 273 

our pride, or vain ambition, or to exercise control, 
or dominion, or compulsion, upon the souls of the 
children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, 
behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the spirit 
of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, 
amen to the priesthood, or the authority of that 
man. * * * No power or influence can or ought 
to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only 
by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness, and 
meekness, and by love unfeigned." 

And concerning the much talked about matter of 
oath-bound societies among the brethren at that 
day, witness the words of this epistle: "And again, 
I would further suggest the impropriety of the 
organization of bands or companies, by covenant 
or oaths, by penalties or secrecies. * * * Let 
our covenant be that of the everlasting covenant, 
as is contained in the holy writ, and the things 
that God hath revealed unto us. Pure friendship 
always becomes weakened the very moment you 
undertake to make it stronger by penal oaths and 
secrecy." 

At about this time Joseph received the following 
personal communication from the Lord: 

The ends of the earth shall inquire after thy 
name, and fools shall have thee in derision, and hell 
shall rage against thee, while the pure in heart, and 
the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, shall seek 
counsel, and authority, and blessings constantly 
from under thy hand ; and thy people shall never 
be turned against thee by the testimony of traitors; 
and although their influence shall cast thee into 
trouble, and into bars and walls, thou shalt be had 

18 



2 74 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

in honor ; and but for a small moment, and thy 
voice shall be more terrible, in the midst of thine 
enemies, than the fierce lion, because of thy right- 
eousness ; and thy God shall stand by thee for ever 
and ever. 

If thou art called to pass through tribulation ; if 
thou art in perils among false brethren ; if thou art 
in perils among robbers ; if thou art in perils by land 
or sea; * * * know thou, my son, that all these 
things shall give thee experience, and shall be for 
thy good. ;■*,.** 

Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood 
shall remain with thee, for their bounds are set, they 
cannot pas's. Thy days are known, and thy years 
shall not be numbered less ; therefore, fear not what 
man can do, for God shall be with you for ever and 
ever. 



We now see clearly that the sacrifice of the Lord's 
Anointed has been determined in the "councils of 
eternity." His days were known, and his years 
numbered ; but they were not to be less than his 
times foreordained. 

The Covenant of Jehovah has endured. "The 
ends of the earth shall inquire after thy name!" has 
been literally fulfilled. 

From this time forward Joseph was constantly, to 
his disciples, foretelling his death ; but they under- 
stood him not. 

As an instance of his marvelous psycological 
power, the following incident of Joseph's imprison- 
ment, as told by Parley P. Pratt, is worthy of repro- 
duction : 

" In one of those tedious nights we had lain as if 
in sleep till the hour of midnight had passed, and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET, 275 

our ears and hearts had been pained while we had 
listened for hours to the obscene jests, the horrid 
oaths, the dreadful blasphemies and filthy language 
of our guards, Col. Price at their head, as they re- 
counted to each other their deeds of rapine, murder, 
robbery, etc., which they had committed among the 
Mormons while at Far West and vicinity. They 
even boasted of defiling by force wives, daughters, 
and virgins, and of shooting or dashing out the 
brains of men, women and children. 

" I had listened till I became so disgusted, shocked, 
horrified, and so filled with the spirit of indignant 
justice, that I could scarcely refrain from rising upon 
my feet and rebuking the guards, but had said noth- 
ing to Joseph, or anyone else, although I lay next 
to him and knew he was awake. On a sudden he 
arose to his feet, and spoke in a voice of thunder, or 
as the roaring lion, uttering, as near as I can recol- 
lect, the following words: 

'"Silence! ye fiends of the infernal pit! In the 
name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command 
you to be still I will not live another minute and 
hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I 
die this instant ! ' 

" He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible 
majesty. Chained and without a weapon. * * * 
He looked upon the quailing guards, whose knees 
smote together, and who, shrinking into a corner, 
begged his pardon. * * * 

" I have seen the ministers of justice, clothed in 
magisterial robes, and criminals arraigned before 
them, while life was suspended on a breath, in the 
courts of England ; I have witnessed a Congress in 



276 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

solemn session to give laws to nations ; I have tried 
to conceive of kings, of royal courts, of thrones and 
crowns, and of emperors assembled to decide the 
fate of kingdoms ; but dignity and majesty have I 
seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight, in 
a dungeon, in an obscure village of Missouri." 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

ESCAPE OF THE PROPHET — WHITMER, THOUGH IN 

APOSTACY, TESTIFIES TO THE ANGEL AND THE 

PLATES BRIGHAM'S JOY AT MEETING JOSEPH 

AGAIN A DAY OF GOD'S POWER THE TWELVE 

START FOR FOREIGN LANDS ABROAD UNDER 

THEIR PETER, 

About this time [March, 1839], Elders Kimball 
and Turley made a persistent effort to obtain a writ 
of habeas corpus for the release of the prisoners, 
traveling hundreds of miles in quest of the Gov- 
ernor and the Supreme judges, but were defeated in 
the attempt. 

On their return to Far West, in the forepart of 
April, a somewhat heated discussion took place be- 
tween Elder Turley, on the one hand, and Captain 
Bogart, John Whitmer and others, on the other, as 
to the possibility of fulfilling the revelation concern- 
ing the Twelve, before alluded to, and the authen- 
ticity of the Book of Mormon was incidentally 
called in question, when John Whitmer, though in 
apostacy, affirmed the fact that he had seen the 
plates, which the angel Moroni brought. 

April 6th, by order of the judge under whose 
jurisdiction the prisoners were, they were started 



278 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

under guard for Davies Co., where they arrived on 
the 8th, and on the 9th were put upon their trial 
before the Grand Jury, which, on the following day, 
brought in a bill of indictment against Joseph and 
Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae, 
and Caleb Baldwin, for " Murder, Treason, Burglary, 
Arson and Larceny." 

Having procured a change of venue, the prisoners 
were, on the 15th, removed to Boone Co., under a 
strong guard. 

April 16th. "This evening," says Joseph, "our 
guard got intoxicated. We thought it a favorable 
opportunity to make our escape, knowing that the 
only object of our enemies was our destruction. 
* * We thought that it was necessary for us, in- 
asmuch as we loved our lives, and did not wish to 
die by the hand of murderers and assassins ; and 
inasmuch as we loved our families and friends, to 
deliver ourselves from our enemies, and from that 
land of tyranny and oppression, and again take our 
stand among a people in whose bosoms dwell those 
feelings of republicanism and liberty which gave 
rise to our nation — feelings which the inhabitants of 
the State of Missouri were strangers to. Accord- 
ingly we took advantage of the situation of our 
guard, and departed. * * * We continued on 
our journey both by night and by day ; and after 
suffering much fatigue and hunger I arrived in 

fc> o o 

Ouincy, Illinois, amidst the congratulations of my 
friends and the embraces of my family, whom I 
found as well as could be expected, considering what 
they had been called to endure." 

Reviewing the period of his imprisonment, he 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 279 

says : " I was in their hands, as a prisoner, six 
months ; but notwithstanding their determination 
to destroy me, with the rest of my brethren who 
were with me, and although at three different times, 
as I was informed, we were sentenced to be shot, 
without the least shadow of law, — as we were not 
military men, — and had the time and place appoint- 
ed for that purpose, yet, through the mercy of God, 
in answer to the prayers of the saints, I have been 
preserved and delivered out of their hands', and can 
again enjoy the society of my friends and brethren, 
whom I love, and to whom I feel united in bonds 
that are stronger than death." 

But self with Joseph was ever but a passing sub- 
ject. With that magnanimous spirit which so char- 
acterized him, and the wondrous love which made 
him the Father of his people, even in his youth, his 
great heart turned immediately to them ; and thus 
he expatiates on their virtues and action in 'the 
trying scenes through which they had just passed: 

"The conduct of the saints, under their accumu- 
lated wrongs and sufferings, has been praiseworthy; 
their courage in defending their brethren from the 
ravages of the mobs ; their attachment to the cause 
of truth, under circumstances the most trying and 
distressing which humanity can possibly endure ; 
their love to each other; their readiness to afford 
assistance to me and my brethren who were confined 
in a dungeon ; their sacrifices in leaving Missouri, 
and assisting the poor widows and orphans, and 
securing them houses in a more hospitable land ; 
all conspire to raise them in the estimation of good 
and virtuous men, and has secured them the favor 



280 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

and approbation of Jehovah, and a name as imper* 
ishable as eternity." 

Here is a passage which again foreshadows his 
martyrdom : 

" Marvel not, then, if you are persecuted, but re- 
member the words of the Saviour: l The servant is 
not above his Lord ; if they have persecuted me, 
they will persecute you also ; ' and that all the 
afflictions through which the saints have to pass are 
in fulfillment of the words of the Prophets which 
have spoken since the world began. We shall 
therefore do well to discern the signs of the times 
as we pass along, that the day of the Lord may not 
' overtake us as a thief in the night.' Afflictions, 
persecutions, imprisonments, and deaths, we must 
expect, according to the Scriptures, which tells us 
that the blood of those whose souls were under the 
altar could not be avenged on them that dwell on 
the .earth until their brethren should be slain as 
were they." 

Upon the marvel that such occurrences as had 
recently transpired could be possible in America, he 
says : 

" If these transactions had taken place among 
barbarians, under the authority of a despot, or in a 
nation where a certain religion is established accord- 
ing to law, and all others proscribed, then there 
might have been some shadow of defence offered. 
But can we realize that in a land which is the cradle 
of liberty and equal rights, and where the voice of 
the conquerors who had vanquished our foes had 
scarcely died away upon our ears ; where we fre- 
quently mingled with those who had stood amidst 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 28 1 

'the battle and the breeze/ and whose arms had 
been nerved in the defence of their country and 
liberty; whose institutions are the theme of philos- 
ophers and poets, and are held up to the admiration 
of the whole civilized world — in the midst of all 
these scenes, with which we are surrounded, a per- 
secution the most unwarrantable was commenced, 
and a tragedy the most dreadful was enacted, by a 
large portion of the inhabitants of one of those free 
and independent States which comprise this vast 
Republic." * * 

And he closes this historic paper with the follow- 
ing solemn appeal to the genius of the American 
Constitution : 

" I ask the citizens of this vast Republic, whether 
such a state of things is to be suffered to pass un- 
noticed, and the hearts of widows, orphans, and 
patriots to be broken, and their wrongs left without 
redress ? No ! I invoke the genius of our Consti- 
tution. I appeal to the patriotism of Americans, to 
stop this unlawful and unholy procedure, and pray 
that God may defend this nation from the dreadful 
effects of such outrages." 

Concerning his meeting with Joseph, after his 
escape, Brigham Young said : " It was one of the 
most joyful scenes of my life to once more strike 
hands with the Prophet, and behold him and his 
companions free from the hands of their enemies. 
Joseph conversed with us like a man who had just 
escaped from a thousand oppressions, and was now 
free in the midst of his children." 

Joseph and the Twelve next founded Nauvoo, 
at a place then called Commerce, in Hancock 



282 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

County, Illinois, and soon again the saints gathered 
together. 

But the unhealthy labor of breaking new land on 
the banks of the Mississippi, for the founding of 
their city, invited pestilence. Nearly every one "was 
down " with fever and ague. The Prophet had the 
sick borne into his house and door-yard, until his 
place was like a hospital. At length even he suc- 
cumbed to the deadly contagion, and for several 
days was as helpless as his disciples. He was a man 
of mighty faith, however, and "the spirit came upon 
him to arise and stay the pestilence." 

"Joseph arose from his bed," narrates Brigham, 
"and the power of God rested upon him. He com- 
menced in his own house and door-yard, command- 
ing the sick, in the name of Jesus Christ, to arise 
and be made whole ; and they were healed accord- 
ing to his word. He then continued to travel from 
house to house, and from tent to tent, upon the 
bank of the river, healing the sick as he went, until 
he arrived at the upper stone house, where he 
crossed the river in a boat, accompanied by several 
of the quorum of the Twelve, and landed in Mon- 
trose. He walked into the cabin where I was lying 
sick, and commanded me, in the name of Jesus 
Christ, to arise and be made whole. I arose and 
was healed, and followed him and the brethren of 
the Twelve into the house of Elijah Fordham, who 
was supposed by his family and friends to be dying. 
Joseph stepped to his bedside, took him by the 
hand, and commanded him, in the name of Jesus 
Christ, to arise from his bed and be made whole. 
His voice was as the voice of God. Brother 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 283 

Fordham instantly leaped from his bed, called for his 
clothinp-, and followed us into the street. We then 
went into the house of Joseph B. Nobles, who lay 
very sick, and he was healed in the same manner! 
And when, by the power of God granted unto him, 
Joseph had healed all the sick, he recrossed the 
river and returned to his home. This was a day 
never to be forgotten." 

While yet emaciated from their recent sickness, 
the Twelve started on a mission to England. Leav- 
ing home in September, the Apostles reached Liv- 
erpool on the 6th of April, 1840, — the anniversary 
of the organization of the church, just ten years 
before. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE MESSIANIC TEST IT HOLDS GOOD THE PARAL- 
LEL EXACT THE SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE ON THE 

THRESHOLD OF THE BRITISH MISSION THE 

DOOR OF SALVATION OPENED MARVELOUS 

ACHIEVEMENTS OF HEBER C. KIMBALL AND WIL- 
FORD WOODRUFF. 

Never since the world began has any but the 
Christ given this astounding and supreme test of 
his mission : 

" Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel 
to every creature. * *• * 

" And these signs shall follow them that believe : 
In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall 
speak with new tongues ; 

" They shall take up serpents ; and if they drink 
any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ; they shall 
lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. * * 

" And they went forth, and preached everywhere, 
the Lord working with them and confirming the 
word with signs following." 

Now the point of the test of this spiritual prob- 
lem of the Christ is not so much in the affirmation 
that whosoever believed should be saved, or whoso- 
ever believed not should be damned ; nor is it in 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 285 

the command that the convert should be baptized, 
that he or she might enter in at the gate, but that 
the signs should follow the preaching of the gospel 
of the Christ, offered to every creature. Many re- 
ligious lawgivers and reformers have risen among 
the nations, but none that we know with the power 
to say, "These signs shall follow everywhere,'' as a 
witness of the Word and the Divine Person in 
whose name they were wrought. Not even did 
Moses give this test of his mission, though he him- 
self wrought miracles, to the confounding of the 
magicians of Egypt. He, at the most, could only say, 
" I would that all the Lord's people were prophets." 
The apostles of Jesus were themselves surprised, 
at first, at the miraculous results which followed 
their preaching, while the multitude, seeing the 
works of Jesus, " Glorified God, saying, We never 
saw it on this fashion." Nor was it less surprising 
to Simon Magnus, of whom all the people of Sama- 
ria said, "This man is the great power of God." 

" And when Simon saw that, through laying on oi 
the Apostles' hands, the Holy Ghost was given, he 
offered them money, 

" Saying, Give me also this power, that on whom- 
soever I lay my hands, he may receive the Holy 
Ghost." 

The fact was that Jesus held the sceptre over all 
spiritual empires, though he does not as yet over 
the empires of this earth. Even devils knew him, 
and obeyed the awful magic of his supreme name. 

Now in this age these things of Jesus are not 
wonderful to the Christian world, with whom the 



286 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

record of his works is accounted to be the new 
testament of God ; but truly may it be the crowning 
wonder that the supreme test of the Christ also 
held good in the case of Joseph the Prophet of the 
Latter-days. 

Have we not here, then, a spiritual problem 
worthy the attention of the whole world ? Two 
persons — Jesus and Joseph — have appeared, with 
the power to say to the apostles, "Go ye into all 
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 
* * And these signs shall follow them that be- 
lieve." Two persons with divine authority and 
power, received from the Father, to say to the 
apostles, " On whomsoever ye lay your hands, he 
shall receive the Holy Ghost." 

True, a Simon Magus might not receive the 
Holy Ghost, it having no temple in him; or, it 
being mercifully withheld, lest he should sin against 
it, heaping damnation upon his own head; hence 
said Peter: "Thy money perish with thee. * * 
Thou hast neither part nor lot in the matter: for 
thy heart is not right in the sight of God." So of 
others, according to the same law; but w r ith the 
exactitude of a science, the conditions of the law 
were found to be that on whomsoever their hands 
were laid, the signs should follow. 

Thus sent Jesus the former Apostles; thus, 
through Joseph, the latter; to work in the name of 
the Christ. 

In America this great spiritual problem of the 
age, in the name of Jesus, manifested through Jo- 
seph, was found to hold good. The test was exact. 
That indeed was the very cause and explanation of 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 287 

all these events of Mormon history, chronicled in 
this Testament of the work of God in the latter 
days. 

But will this grand spiritual problem work also in 
foreign lands ? was the very question with which 
the Apostles were brought face to face at the period 
of the stupendous apostacy at Kirtland, which 
brought the quick flight from that first Stake of 
Zion, to be followed by the fall of Far West, the 
imprisonment of the Prophet, and the expulsion of 
the Saints from Missouri. 

It will be here remembered that, at the crisis in 
Kirtland, Joseph said that the Lord revealed unto 
him that "something new" must be done to "save 
the church." And that something new was to send 
his gospel to the nations, — to show to the elders 
' and the American saints that in all lands " these 
signs" should follow every creature who believed in 
the gospel as revealed through the Prophet Joseph 
Mark, that was the very test of that hour, for the 
apostate elders and apostles said not that Joseph 
had not once been a prophet — concerning which they 
still witnessed — but that he was at that moment a 
"fallen" prophet, and rejected of the Lord. Then 
Joseph (knowing the spirit within him, and the 
almighty power behind him to decide just such a 
controversy), one day in the temple, as we have 
seen, went over to Heber C. Kimball, in whom he 
knew the Spirit dwelt, and declared, "The Spirit 
whispers to me, Let my servant Heber take a mis- 
sion to Great Britain, to open the door of salvation 
to that nation." 

The Apostle Heber went, to prove that Joseph 



288 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

was the Lords Prophet, the faithful remained be- 
hind to break the tidal wave of apostasy. 

On Heber's mission the fate of the church de- 
pended. Now was the grand spiritual test to be 
put to all nations and to every creature, — the test 
which has been given only by Jesus and Joseph. 
Will it fail ? Ah ! that is the problem, even to this 
day, — one which millions, in the near future, are 
going to prove for themselves ! The answer which 
Heber sent back across the waters, in that day, was, 

"Glory to God, Joseph! The Lord is with us 
among the nations abroad !" 

Having been absent in Great Britain about a 
year, Heber, and Orson Hyde, returned, with glo- 
rious news of the salvation, and the signs, and the 
Holy Ghost, which followed their testimony in for- 
eign lands ; but so overwhelming has been the flood 
of events, in the expulsion of the saints from Mis- 
souri, — which Heber returned barely in time to help 
them through, — that the force of his mission abroad, 
as a grand test of the Latter-day dispensation of 
the Christ, has not hitherto been emphasized. 

It would be neither proper nor possible to incor- 
porate the history of the British mission in this 
personal book of the Prophet, but it may be ob- 
served, however, in passing, that the missionary 
work of the Latter-day Apostles abroad, for the first 
fourteen years, is equally marvelous with that of the 
early apostles to the Gentiles. This was especially 
illustrated in the missions of Heber C. Kimball to 
Great Britain, in 1837, and Wilford Woodruff, in 
1840. 

But at the very threshold of the British mission 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 289 

we have something of the view in point too import- 
ant to be passed over, although perhaps never before 
presented in that connection. The spiritual powers 
were, at the very outset, so wondrously manifested 
as, from that time forward, to form one of the prin- 
cipal chapters of the spiritual marvels of the Latter- 
day church. Let us now view the incident in the 
light of the test of Joseph's mission, upon Jesus' 
promise, — " In my name they shall cast out devils;" 
and " These signs shall follow them that believe." 
See the two powers in direct warfare on the arrival 
of the Apostles in Great Britain. Here is the 
record from Heber's journal : 

" About daybreak, Sunday,* July 30th [1837], 
Elder Isaac Russell came up to the third loft, where 
Elder Hyde and myself were sleeping, and called 
upon us to pray for him, that he might be delivered 
from the evil spirits that were tormenting him to 
such a degree that he felt he could not live long 
unless he obtained relief. We laid hands on him, I 
being mouth, and prayed that the Lord would have 
mercy upon him and rebuke the devil. While thus 
engaged I was struck with great force by some in- 
visible power, and fell senseless upon the floor; and 
the first thing I recollected was being supported by 
elders Hyde and Russell, who were praying for me. 
They then laid me on the bed, but my agony was so 
great I arose, bowed on my knees and prayed. 

" I then sat upon the bed, and could distinctly see 
the evil spirits who foamed and gnashed their teeth 
upon us. We gazed upon them about an hour and 
a half. We were not looking towards the window, 
but towards the wall ; space appeared before us, and 

19 



29O LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

we saw the devils coming in legions, with their 
leaders, who came within a few feet of us. They 
came towards us like armies rushing to battle ; they 
appeared to be men of full stature, possessing every 
uncomely form and appearance of men in the flesh, 
mangled and deformed, who were angry and des- 
perate, and I shall never forget the vindictive malig- 
nity depicted on their countenances, and any attempt 
to paint the scene which then presented itself, or 
portray the malice and enmity depicted in their 
countenances, would be vain. I perspired excess- 
ively, and my clothes were as wet as if I had been 
taken out of the river. 

" Although I felt exquisite pain, and was in the 
greatest distress for some time, and cannot even 
look back on the scene without feelings of horror, 
yet by it I learned the power of the adversary, his 
enmity against the servants of God, and got some 
understanding of the invisible world. We distinctly 
heard those spirits talk and express their wrath and 
hellish designs against us. However, the Lord de- 
livered us from them and blessed us exceedingly 
that day, and I had the pleasure of baptizing nine." 

Then came victory to the Apostles in Great 
Britain. Whole villages were converted at a sweep, 
" by the power of God," and not by the wisdom of 
man, of the former of which Heber had much. See 
the following instances from his journal : 

" Having mentioned my determination of going 
i:o Chatburn to several of my brethren, they endeav- 
ored to dissuade me from going, informing me that 
;here could be no prospect of success whatever, as 
several ministers of different denominations had 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 29 1 

endeavored in vain to raise churches in these 
places. 

This did not discourage me in the least. I went 
in the name of Jesus Christ. My testimony was 
accompanied by the Spirit of the Lord, and was 
received with joy; and these people, who were rep- 
resented as being so hard and obdurate, were melted 
down into tenderness and love, and the effect 
seemed to be general. 

" I told them that being a servant of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, I stood ready at all times to adminis- 
ter the ordinances of the gospel. At the close of 
my discourse I felt some one pulling my coat, and 
turning round I was accosted with, ' Master ! Mas- 
ter ! please will you baptize me ? ' ' and me,' ' and 
me/ exclaimed more than a dozen voices. Accord- 
ingly I went down into the water and baptized 
twenty-five. The next morning I returned to Down- 
ham, where I had preached the evening previous to 
preaching in Chatburn,and baptized between twenty 
and thirty in the course of the day." 

The wonders, in detail, of the rise of the British 
mission maybe found in the Life of Heber C. Kim- 
ball ; suffice now the close of this view of the multi- 
tudes converted by the power of God and the signs 
following the believer, in, if possible, the still more 
striking apostolic example of Wilford Woodruff, on 
the mission of 1840. He says : 

" According to the directions of the Spirit, on the 
3d [March, 1840,] I went to Herefordshire, and 
called upon John Benbow at Castlefroom. I found 
a people prepared for the gospel. I preached twice 
at his house. On the 6th I baptized six persons, 



292 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

including John Benbow and wife. I here found a 
society called ' United Brethren/ numbering about 
six hundred members and about fifty preachers 
Thomas Kington was the presiding elder. They 
came from all quarters to hear me preach, and be- 
lieved my testimony, and I preached and baptized 
daily. The ministers of the Church of England 
sent three clerks to see what I was doing, and I 
baptized them. One constable came to arrest me 
for preaching, and I baptized him. In about thirty 
days I baptized one hundred and sixty, forty-eight 
of whom were preachers of the United Brethren, 
including their presiding elder." 

This is the simple record of the Apostle, without 
a single dramatic touch. The barest description of 
the case is no less than this: One day while in 
Staffordshire, where he is preaching and baptizing, 
the word of the Lord comes to his apostle Wilford, 
saying, " Up and get ye whithersoever the Lord 
shall lead you, for he hath a great work for you 
elsewhere. Turn neither to the right hand nor 
to the left, by the way, but go as my spirit shall 
lead you." So the Apostle started, "led by the 
Spirit." 

Into Herefordshire he travels on foot; Froom's 
Hill is reached, and there is the farm-house of John 
Benbow, a respectable English farmer. To that 
house the Spirit leads him, he knowing absolutely 
nothing of its inmates. Prompted by the Spirit, 
the Apostle knocks at the farmer's door. He is 
admitted. He tells his mission and bears his testi- 
mony. The household receive it. The Apostle 
forthwith preaches the gospel in that house, to the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 293 

villagers, who either to hear the strange tidings. 
Soon the Rev. Thomas Kington, Superintendent 
Minister of the Froom's Hill circuit of United 
Brethren, hears and obeys the gospel ; and then the 
Spirit runs through all the regions round, and is 
glorified. 

In six months he has baptized over one thousand 
members, sweeping into his church the entire cir- 
cuit of the United Brethren, with over fifty of 
their local and traveling ministers, with their 
chapels, and in twelve months the Apostle has 
raised up three conferences. 

One instance of this marvelous missionary work 
is especially worth telling. Two ministers from a 
neighboring village, attracted by the strange rumors 
in circulation, came in a q-'iq; to the house where the 
Apostle is abiding. He has gone to baptize some 
converts. The ministers follow in their gig, and 
find him by the wayside, when they accost him. 
He there by the way preaches the gospel to them ; 
applies the language of Philip to the eunuch; bids 
them down into the water. They obey the Apostle, 
and go their way rejoicing. 

And this is the ministry of an Apostle in our day; 
an Apostle 'Ted by the Spirit." 

The promise of the Christ was thus well tested 
in the early rise of the Latter-day work in England. 

"These sigms shall follow them that believe!" 

Joseph, of America, was a prophet indeed. Yet 
"who hath believed our report? And to whom is 
the arm of the Lord revealed ? For behold he 
shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as 



294 LiFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

a root out of a dry ground ; and when we shall see 
him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sor- 
rows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it 
were our faces from him; he was despised, and we 
esteemed him not," is as true of Joseph as of the 
Great Master, thus prophetically announced. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

joseph. carries the case of his people to wash- 
ington an incident by the way his re- 
port home before a congressional commit- 
tee" — incidents of the return journey a 

strange mission correspondence with mr. 

bennett death and funeral obsequies of 

Joseph's father. 

Return we now to Nauvoo and the Prophet. 

Resolving to lay the case of the Missouri perse- 
cutions before Congress, Joseph, accompanied by 
Sidney Rigdon, Elias Higbee, and O. P. Rockwell, 
on the 29th of October, 1839, ^ e ^ Nauvoo. 

A deed by the way for a moment bid fair to make 
Joseph a hero before Congress. But the Prophet 
reveals himself, and Elijah's mantle is not comely to 
the eyes of modern Congressmen. He relates: 

" While on the mountains some distance from 
Washington, our coachman stepped into a public 
house to take his grog, when the horses took fright 
and ran down the hill at full speed. I persuaded 
my fellow-travelers to be quiet and retain their seats, 
but had to hold one woman to prevent her throwing 
her infant out of the coach. The passengers were 
exceedingly agitated, but I used every persuasion 



296 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

to calm their feelings, and opening the door I se- 
cured my hold on the side of the coach the best 
way I could, and succeeded in placing myself in the 
coachman's seat and reining up the horses, after 
they had run some two or three miles, and neither 
coach, horses, nor passengers received any injury. 
My course was spoken of in the highest terms of 
commendation, as being one of the most daring and 
heroic deeds, and no language could express the 
gratitude of the passengers when they found them- 
selves safe and the horses quiet. There were some 
members of Congress with us, who proposed nam- 
ing the incident to that body, believing they would 
reward such conduct by some public act ; but on 
inquiring my name, to mention as the author of 
their safety, and finding it to be Joseph Smith, the 
' Mormon Prophet/ as they called it, I heard no 
more of their praise, gratitude, or reward." 

Arriving in Washington November 28th, Joseph 
proceeded to the White House without delay to lay 
his cause before the President. In his home report 
he takes the following humorous view of His Ex- 
cellency, Mr. Van Buren : 

" Now we shall endeavor to express our feelings 
and views concerning the President, as we have 
been eye-witnesses of his majesty. He is a small 
man, sandy complexion, and ordinary features, with 
frowning brow and considerable body, but not well 
proportioned as to his arms and legs, and, to use 
his own words, is 'quite fat.' On the whole we think 
he is without body or parts, as no one part seems to 
be proportioned to another; therefore, instead of 
saying body and parts, we say body and part, or 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 297 

partyism if you please to .call it. And in fine, to 
come directly to the point, he is so much a fop or a 
fool (for he judged our cause before he knew it), we 
could find no place to put truth into him." 

Early in December the Illinois Congressional 
delegation met in a committee room of the Capitol, 
and listened to an argument by Joseph as to the 
constitutionality of indemnity to the brethren by 
the General Government, for the oppressive acts of 
the State of Missouri. The outcome of the meet- 
ing was a memorial and petition to Congress, setting 
forth the facts of the case. 

Having accomplished all that could be done at 
that time, Joseph made a trip northward, stopping 
several days at Philadelphia, Pa., and at Monmouth, 
N. J. Returning to Washington about Februarv 
1 st, he resumed his efforts in that city. Of a ser- 
mon there delivered by him, a member of Congress 
thus writes : 

" I went last evening to hear 'Joe Smith,' the cel- 
ebrated Mormon, expound his doctrine. I, with 
several others, had a desire to understand his tenets 
as explained by himself. He is not an educated 
man, but he is a plain, sensible, strong-minded man. 
Everything he says is said in a manner to leave an 
impression that he is sincere. There is no levity, no 
fanaticism, no want of dignity in his deportment. 
He is apparently from forty to forty-five years 
of age, rather above the middle stature, and what 
the ladies would call a very good looking man. In 
his garb there are no peculiarities, his dress being 
that of a plain, unpretending citizen. He is by 
profession a farmer, but is evidently well read. * * 
Throughout his whole address he displayed strongly 



298 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

a spirit of charity and forbearance. The Mormon 
Bible, he said, was communicated to him direct from 
heaven. If there was such a thing on earth as the 
author of it, then he (Smith) was the author; but 
the idea that he wished to impress was, that he had 
penned it as dictated by God." 

Of his final interviews with President Van Buren 
and John C. Calhoun, Joseph says: 

" During my stay I had an interview with Martin 
Van Buren, the President, who treated me very in- 
solently, and it was with great reluctance he listened 
to our message, which when he had heard, he said, 
1 Gentlemen, your cause is just, but I can do nothing 
for you ;' and • If I take up for you, I shall lose the 
vote of Missouri.' His whole course went to show 
that he was an office-seeker, that self-aggrandize- 
ment was his ruling passion, and that justice and 
righteousness were no part of his composition. * * 
I also had an interview with Mr. John C. Calhoun, 
whose conduct towards me very ill became his sta- 
tion. I became satisfied there was little use for me 
to tarry to press the just claims of the saints on the 
protection of the President or Congress, and staid 
but a few days, taking passage on the railroad and 
stages back to Dayton, Ohio." 

About this time the Prophet sent Apostle Orson 
Hyde on a mission to Jerusalem, as a sign of the 
near approach of Messiah. This arduous work he 
cheerfully undertook, leaving Nauvoo on the 15th 
of April, 1840. 

In a letter from Joseph to a gentleman by the 
name of John C. Bennett, we obtain the following 
glimpse of Nauvoo at that time, — August 8th, 1840: 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 299 

* The number of inhabitants is nearly three thou- 
sand, and is fast increasing. If we are suffered to 
remain, there is every prospect of its becoming- one 
of the largest cities on the river, if not in the west- 
ern world. Numbers have moved in from the sea- 
board, and a few from the islands of the sea. 

" It is our intention to commence the erection of 
some public buildings next Spring. We have pur- 
chased twenty thousand acres of land in the Iowa 
Territory opposite this place, which is fast filling up 
with our people. I desire all the saints, as well as 
all lovers of truth and correct principles, to come to 
this place as fast as possible, or their circumstances 
will permit, and endeavor, by energy of action and 
concentration of talent, to effect those objects that 
are so dear to us. Therefore my general invitation 
is, ' Let all that will, come,' and partake of the pov- 
erty of Nauvoo freely." 

On the 14th of September, 1840, occurred the 
death of Joseph Smith, sen., father of the Prophet, 
and Patriarch of the Church. Of him it may truly 
be observed that he was esteemed by the saints as 
the Abraham of the dispensation. Joseph says : 
"He was the first person who received my testimony 
after I had seen the angel, and exhorted me to be 
faithful and diligent to the message I had received. 
He was baptized April 6th, 1830." And concerning 
the immediate cause of his death, he continues : 
"After I and my brother Hyrum were thrown into 
the Missouri jails by the mob, he fled from under 
the exterminating order of Gov. Boggs, and made 
his escape in midwinter to Quincy, Illinois, whence 
he removed to Commerce in 1839. The exposures 



300 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

he suffered brought on consumption, of which he 
died." 

From the funeral discourse, by Elder Robert B. 
Tompson, we extract as follows : 

" If ever there was an event calculated to raise 
feelings of sorrow in the human breast, and cause 
us to drop the sympathetic tear, it certainly is the 
present, for truly we can say with the king of Israel, 
'A prince and a great man has fallen in Israel.' A 
man endeared to us by every feeling calculated to 
entwine around and adhere to the human heart. 
*.-•** The life of our departed father has indeed 
been an eventful one, having to take a conspicuous 
part in the great work of the last days; being desig- 
nated by the ancient prophets who once dwelt on 
this continent as the father of him whom the Lord 
had promised to raise up in the last days to lead his 
people Israel. *;■•*!..-* The love of God was in 
his heart, the peace of God rested upon him, and 
his soul was full of compassion and blessing. All 
the circumstances connected with his death were 
calculated to lead the mind back to the time when 
an Abraham, an Isaac, and a Jacob bid adieu to 
mortality and entered into rest." 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

HISTORICAL LANDMARKS CHARTER OF NAUVOO — 

THE LEGION DOUGLASS' CERTIFICATE — FIRST 

CITY ELECTION FIRST CITY COUNCIL, ETC. A 

UNIQUE BILL JOSEPH^ MILITARY COMMISSION 

GENERAL ORDER NO. I THE AMERICAN MO- 
HAMET. 

Now rose Nauvoo — the beautiful — to the glory 
of the second Zion of the saints. 

Says the record, under date of December 16th, 
1840: "This day the charters of the 'city of Nauvoo,' 
the ' Nauvoo Legion/ and the ' University of the 
city of Nauvoo/ were signed by the Governor, hav- 
ing previously passed the House and Senate." 

This charter was voluminous in detail and specific 
in its provisions, according to the inhabitants of 
Nauvoo all rights and privileges then pertaining to 
other cities in Illinois. In section twenty-five of the 
act of incorporation is the specific charter of the 
afterwards famous " Legion." It is as follows: 

"Sec. 25. The City Council may organize the in- 
habitants of said city, subject to military duty, into 
a body of independent military men, to be called 
the ' Nauvoo Legion,' the court martial of which 
shall be composed of the commissioned officers of 



302 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

said Legion, and constitute the law-making depart- 
ment, with full powers and authority to make, ordain, 
establish, and execute all such laws and ordinances 
as may be considered necessary for the benefit, gov- 
ernment and regulation of said Legion ; provided 
said court martial shall pass no law or act repugnant 
to, or inconsistent with, the Constitution of the 
United States, or of this State; and provided also 
that the officers of the Legion shall be commis- 
sioned by the Governor of the State. The said 
Legion shall perform the same amount of military 
duty as is now or may be hereafter required of the 
regular militia of the State, and shall be at the dis- 
posal of the Mayor in executing the laws and ordi- 
nances of the city corporation and the laws of the 
State, and at the disposal of the Governor for the 
public defence and the execution of the laws of the 
State or of the United States, and shall be entitled 
to their proportion of the public arms ; and pro- 
vided also that said Legion shall be exempt from all 
other military duty." 

The charter was duly attested by Stephen A. 
Douglass, then Secretary of State; and thus may 
be said to have commenced the singular relation- 
ship of Douglass with the Mormons, which resulted 
in his being made a Senator of the United States 
by the potent unity of their votes. 

The Prophet, commenting upon the charter, says: 
"The city charter of Nauvoo is of my own plan 
and device. I concocted it for the salvation of the 
church, and on principles so broad that every honest 
man might dwell secure under its protective influ- 
ence without distinction of sect or party." 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 303 

On February ist, 1841, occurred the first munici- 
pal election in Nauvoo, when the following persons 
were elected by majorities ranging from 330 to 337 
votes : Mayor, John C. Bennett; Aldermen, Wm. 
Marks, Samuel H. Smith, Daniel H. Wells, Newel 
K. Whitney ; Councilors, Joseph Smith, Hyrum 
Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Charles C. Rich, John T. 
Barnett, Wilson Law, Don Carlos Smith, John P. 
Greene, Vinson Knight. 

Two days previously Joseph had been elected 
sole trustee for the church. This being an act cre- 
ating said office, the purview of its functions are 
doubtless exactly set forth in Joseph's notice of 
such election to the County Recorder of Hancock 
County, which states : 

"At a meeting of the church of Jesus Christ of 
Latter-day Saints, at this place [Nauvoo], on Sat- 
urday, the 30th day of January, a. d. 1841, I was 
elected sole Trustee for said church, to hold my 
office during life (my successors to be the First 
Presidency of said church), and vested with plenary 
powers, as sole Trustee in Trust for the church of 
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to receive, ac- 
quire, manage or convey property, real, personal, or 
mixed, for the sole use and benefit of said Church, 
agreeably to the provisions of an act entitled, 'An 
Act concerning Religious Societies,' approved Feb. 
6th, 1835." 

On Wednesday, February 3d, the City Council of 
Nauvoo organized, and their first public act there- 
after was the passage of the following generously 
worded resolution, which was framed and presented 
by Joseph : 



304 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" Resolved by the City Council of Nauvoo, that 
the unfeigned thanks of this community be respect- 
fully tendered to the Governor, Council of Revision, 
and Legislature of the State of Illinois, as a feeble 
testimonial of their respect and esteem for noble, 
high-minded, and patriotic statesmen, and as an 
evidence of gratitude for the signal powers recently 
conferred, and that the citizens of Quincy be held 
in everlasting remembrance for their unparalleled 
liberality and marked kindness to our people, when 
in their greatest state of suffering and want." 

An ordinance organizing the Nauvoo Legion was 
passed the same day, and on the following day a 
court martial of the officers of the State Militia 
within the city of Nauvoo elected Joseph Lieuten- 
ant-General of the Legion. 

On Saturday, March 1st, the Prophet secured the 
passage of the following unique bill, drafted by him- 
self, and entitled, "An ordinance in relation to Re- 
ligious Societies : " 

Sec. 1. Be it ordained by the City Council of the 
City of Nauvoo that the Catholics, Presbyterians, 
Methodists, Baptists, Latter-day Saints, Quakers, 
Episcopalians, Universalists, Unitarians, Moham- 
medans, and all other religious sects and denomina- 
tions whatever, shall have free toleration, and equal 
privileges in this city; and should any person be 
guilty of ridiculing and abusing, or otherwise depre- 
ciating another, in consequence of his religion, or of 
disturbing or interrupting any religious meeting 
within the limits of this city, he shall, on conviction 
thereof before the Mayor or Municipal Court, be 
considered a disturber of the public peace, and fined 
in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, or 
imprisoned not exceeding six months, or both, at 
the discretion of said Mayor or Court. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 305 

"Sec. 2. It is hereby made the duty of all munici- 
pal officers to notice and report to the Mayor any 
breach or violation of this or any other ordinance 
of this city, that may come within their knowledge, 
or of which they may be advised ; and any officer 
aforesaid is hereby fully authorized to arrest all 
such violators of rule, law, and order, either with or 
without process." 

Here is Joseph's military commission: 

Thomas Carlin, Governor of the State of Illinois, to 
all to whom these presents shall come : Greeting. 

Know ye that Joseph Smith, having been duly 
elected to the office of Lieutenant-General, Nauvoo 
Legion, of the Militia of the State of Illinois, I, 
Thomas Carlin, Gov. of said State, do commission 
him Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo Legion, to 
take rank from the 5th day of Feb., 1841. He is, 
therefore, carefully and dilligently to discharge the 
duties of said office, by doing and performing all 
manner of things thereunto belonging; and I do 
strictly require all officers and soldiers under his 
command to be obedient to his orders; and he is to 
obey such orders and directions as he shall receive, 
from time to time, from the commander-in-chief, or 
his superior officer. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my 
hand, and caused the great seal of State to be here- 
unto affixed. Done at Springfield, this 10th day of 
March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and forty-one, and of the independence of 
the United States the sixty-fifth. 

Lyman Trumbull, 
(l. s.) Secy of State. 

By the Governor, 

Thomas Carlin. 
• 20 



306 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

It will be observed by the curious that this corns 
mission bears the signature of the since famous 
Lyman Trumbull. Indeed, it is not a little singular 
how many of the nation's most illustrious men have 
been, in just such examples, connected with the his- 
tory of the Mormons. Douglas, however, was the 
man who figured most prominently during the life- 
time of the Prophet. 

The following first general order to the Legion, 
issued by its Lieut-General, embodying an opinion 
of Judge, Douglas, is too valuable a unique of his- 
tory to be omitted : 

Headquarters Nauvoo Legion, 
City of Nauvoo, Illinois, May 4,1841, 
General Orders: 

Pursuant to an act of the Court Martial, the 
troops attached or belonging to the Legion will 
parade at the place of general rendezvous, in the 
City of Nauvoo, for drill, review, and inspection, on 
Saturday, the 3d day of July, at half-past nine 
o'clock, a. m., armed and equipped according to law. 
At ten o'clock the line will be formed, and the gen- 
eral officers conducted to their posts, under a fire of 
artillery. The commandants of the 1st and 2d 
companies, 2d battalion, 1st regiment, 2d cohort, are 
directed to enroll every man residing within the 
bounds of their respective commands, and not at- 
tached to any other company of the Legion, between 
the ages of 18 and 45 years, and notify them of their 
attachment to the service, and their legal liabilities. 

As will be seen by the following legal opinion of 
Judge Douglas, of the Supreme Court of the State 
of Illinois, than whom no man stands more deserv- 
edly high in the public estimation as an able and 
profound jurist, politician, and statesman, the officers 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 307 

and privates belonging to the Legion are exempt 
from all military duty not required by the legally 
constituted authorities thereof. They are, therefore, 
expressly inhibited from performing any military 
services not ordered by the general officers or di- 
rected by the court martial : 



City of Nauvoo, Illinois, May 3, 1841. 
General Bennett. 

Dear Sir : — In reply to your request, I have examined so much of the 
Nauvoo City Charter and Legislative Acts as relate to the Nauvoo Legion, and 
am clearly of opinion that any citizen of Hancock County, who may attach him- 
self to the Nauvoo Legion, has all the privileges which appertaia to that inde- 
pendent military body, and is exempt from all other military duty, as provided 
in the 25th section of the City Charter, and cannot, thereiOi-e,*be fined by any 
military or civil court for neglecting or refusing to parade with any other military 
body, or under the command of any officers who are not attached to said Legion. 
The language of the laws, upon this subject, is so plain and specific as to admit 
of no doubt as to its true meaning and intent. I do not consider it necessary, 
therefore, to enter into an argument to prove a position which is evident from an 
inspection of the laws themselves. 

I am, very respectfully, your friend, 

S. A. Douglas. 



The Legion is not, as has been falsely represented 
by its enemies, exclusively a Mormon military asso- 
ciation, but a body of citizen soldiers, organized 
(without regard to political preferences or religious 
sentiments) for the public defence, the general good, 
and the preservation of law and order — to save the 
innocent, unoffending citizen from the iron grasp of 
the oppressor, and perpetuate and sustain our free 
institutions against misrule, anarchy, and mob vio- 
lence. No other views are entertained or tolerated. 
*■■*■* The militia companies of Hancock Co., 
and citizens generally, are respectfully invited to 
unite with the Legion, and partake of its privileges. 
* * * The officers and troops of the Legion are 
directed to treat with proper respect and decorum 
all other officers and troops in the service of this 
State, or of the United States. 

Officers are ordered to treat their troops with 
marked respect ; and while they discharge their 



308 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

duties with promptitude and boldness as officers, 
they must not forget or neglect to observe the 
requisites of gentleme7i. * * * 

Joseph Smith, 

L ieuL- General. 



But the State of Missouri was not satisfied to 
leave the Prophet and saints in peace in the asylum 
of Illinois, which State at that period granted them 
generous refuge. Here is the beginning of the new 
record of. persecution, which was at last fated to 
close with the martyrdom, when a Governor (Ford) 
came into power too ready to assist Missouri, and 
when the people of the hitherto friendly State also 
grew jealous of the rising power of the Mormons. 

Under date of June 4th, 1841, says Joseph, "I 
called on Governor Carlin at his residence in Quin- 
cy. During my visit with the Governor I was 
treated with the greatest kindness and respect ; 
nothing was said about any requisition having come 
from the Governor of Missouri for my arrest. In a 
very few hours after I had left the Governor's resi- 
dence, he sent Thomas King, Sheriff of Adams Co., 
Thomas Jasper, a constable of Quincy, and some 
others, as a posse, with an officer from Missouri, to 
arrest me and deliver me up to the authorities of 
Missouri." 

But Joseph obtained a writ of habeas corpus, and, 
on a hearing before Judge Douglas, was discharged. 
His counsel on that occasion drew so vivid a picture 
of the persecutions and sufferings of the saints as 
to draw tears from many present, including Judge 
Douglas himself. "Great God!" said his counsel, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 309 

O, H. Browning, 'in closing, "have I not seen it? 
Yes ; my eyes have beheld the blood-stained traces 
of innocent women and children, in the drear winter, 
who had traveled hundreds of miles barefoot through 
frost and snow, to seek a refuge from their savage 
pursuers. 'Twas a scene of horror sufficient to en- 
list sympathy from an adamantine heart. And shall 
this unfortunate man, whom their fury has seen 
proper to sacrifice, ■ be driven into such a savage 
land, and none dare to enlist in the cause of justice ? 
If there was no other voice under heaven ^ver to be 
heard in this cause, gladly would I stand alone, and 
proudly spend my last breath in defence of an op- 
pressed American citizen." 

Joseph now began to be spoken of by the "enemy" 
as a military prophet, and all sorts of reports as to 
his intentions of conquest flew through the land. 
Hence from this time to his death the journals, at 
home and abroad, styled him the " American .Mo- 
hamet." 

The reader, by this time, will appreciate that the 
life of this wonderful man is something more than 
a mere record of historic events. There is in it a 
marvelous subject and a personality making it to be 
a divine drama such as the ages have scarcely, if 
ever, witnessed before. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

BOOK OF ABRAHAM THE HOSTS OF HEAVEN PWE- 

EXISTENCE ELECTION IDENTITY OF MICHAEL 

AND ADAM MEANING AND OBJECT OF THE FALL 

CONSISTENCY OF THE CHRIST EXAMPLE THE 

MESSIANIC WAVE ENOCH THE BUILDERS OF 

ZION THE OFFICE OF ISRAEL ISRAEL'S FALL 

THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM MOVES WESTWARD. 

In uncovering something of the vast structure of 
Mormon theology, we cannot do better than to first 
introduce the subject matter of the "Book of Abra- 
ham," that book being as closely identified with 
Joseph, as its inspired translator, as is the Book of 
Mormon. 

In this book Abraham, speaking, says : " Now the 
Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelli- 
gences that were organized before the world was, 
and among these there were many of the noble and 
great ones ; and God saw these souls that they were 
good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he 
said these I will make my rulers ; for he stood 
among those that were spirits, and he saw that they 
were good; and he said unto me, Abraham, thou 
art one of them, thou wast chosen before thou wast 
born. And there stood one among them that was 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 3II 

like unto God, and he said unto those who were 
with him, We will go down, for there is space there, 
and we will take of these materials, and we will 
make an earth whereon these may dwell ; and we 
will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all 
things whatsoever the Lord their God shall com- 
mand them ; and they who keep their first estate, 
shall be added upon ; and they who keep not their 
first estate, shall not have glory in the same king- 
dom with those who keep their first estate ; and 
they who keep their second estate, shall have glory 
added upon their heads for ever and ever. 

" And the Lord said, who shall I send ? And one 
answered like unto the Son of Man, here am I, send 
me. And another answered and said, here am I, 
send me. And the Lord said, I will send the first." 

Thus, according to Joseph's finding, the genesis 
of spirits was before the genesis of man, and the 
hosts of heaven were numbered before the Lord — 
the great Father of all — ere the children of earth 
had a mortal record. 

And thus, in the exalted vision of Mormon the- 
ology, have we a pre-existing domain, with God as 
the Father of all spirits; and Jesus, or the Christ, 
is with the Father in his works of creation and re- 
demption. 

And Abraham is also with the Father, from before 
the foundation of the world. He is of the same 
order of spirits as Jesus. Christ is chief in the 
works of the Father, but there are many noble ones 
with him in the great brotherhood which bears his 
name. They are the church of the First Born. 

To affirm that Christ is Saviour for the whole 



312 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

race of Adam, — the " Great High Priest of our pro- 
fession," — the Word by which all things were cre- 
ated, and yet say that his ministry and brotherhood 
commenced only eighteen hundred years ago, is 
sheerly playing with divine conceptions. True, that 
is the view of modern theologians, but it is cramped 
and narrow nevertheless. The heathen religions, 
and Grecian mythology, were far richer in this re- 
gard than is Christian theology as expounded by 
the average divine. 

But the revelations of Joseph discover to us the 
economy of the heavens in an everlasting sweep, 
and make consistent the idea of an everlasting 
gospel. 

And thus is there a reconciling of many myste- 
ries in this grand theology of the Mormons. It 
takes the weapon from the hand of infidelity which 
seeks to destroy our faith, instead of establishing it 
the firmer, by proof that a knowledge of the Christ 
can be traced among all nations from the begin- 
ning, and gives a key to the Lawgiver of Israel; for 
Moses esteemed "the reproach of Christ greater 
riches than the treasures in Egypt." 

On earth the chief corner-stone was rejected, but 
not so in heaven : " And the Lord said, I will send 
the first." 

And this grand celestial view is also brought 
home to the interest of the race in the person of 
Abraham, the father of the faithful: "And he said, 
these will I make my rulers ; * * and he said un- 
to me, Abraham, thou art one of them, thou wast 
chosen before thou wast born." 

Here, then, have we not only the idea of pre- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 313 

existence, but the very spirit and philosophy of the 
true doctrine of election. 

" Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he 
also called ; and whom he called, them he also justi- 
fied ; and whom he justified, them he also glorified." 

He chose Adam to be the Patriarch of the whole 
human family. -He chose Seth, Enoch, Noah, and 
Melchesidek. He chose Abraham to be the Father 
of the Faithful, Isaac to be the elect son, Jacob to 
be the Patriarch of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, 
Moses to be the Leader of Israel, David to be a 
king, from whom Messiah was to come. He chose 
Jesus to come in the " meridian of time," and be the 
sacrifice, but in the last days to come again as the 
King of Glory ; with him his apostles, and, in the 
consummation, all his holy angels. And finally he 
has chosen Joseph Smith to prepare the way for 
that consummation. 

The scientist will see as much truth in the decla- 
ration of the pre-existence of universal man as in 
the pre-existence of Christ. Indeed, the universal 
declaration gives force and consistency to the special 
assertion. Philosophic exactness requires us to say, 
at least, that if Jesus had a pre-existence with the 
Father, then has all mankind a pre-existing record. 

What a lifting up of the race is this ! And yet 
it doth not detract one jot or tittle from the glory 
and dignity of Christ. By this revealing of the 
Mormon Prophet the view of God and his children 
has been truly exalted, and the infinite sweep of 
existence has been laid bare beyond the reach of 
the most poetic conception. 

Standing on Mar's Hill, declaring unto the Athe- 



314 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

nians the Unknown God, Paul thus reasons: "As 
certain also of your poets have said, For we are also 
his offspring. Forasmuch, then, as we are the off- 
spring of God, we ought not to think that the God- 
head is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by 
art and man's device." 

But Jesus most affirmed the Fatherhood of God ; 
and the relationship which existed between himself 
and his Father he affirmed of his disciples also : 



" And now, O Father, glorify me with thine own 
self, with the glory which I had with thee before the 
world was. 

" I have manifested thy name unto the men which 
thou gavest me out of the world ; thine they were, 
and thou gavest them me ; and they have kept thy 
word. * * * 

" I pray for them : I pray not for the world ; but 
for them which thou hast given me ; for they are 
thine. * * * 

" They are not of the world, even as I am not of 
the world." 



In plain Mormon wording, Jesus had come down 
from his exalted estate, sent by the Father, and his 
disciples also came down to work out, with him, the 
redemption of the world. He the master, they the 
apostles of his ministry to all nations. 

And that ministry is not only of the days of his 
flesh, but from before the foundation of the world 
to the end of time. It is the ministry of ages in his 
spirit estate, the ministry of his days in the flesh, the 
ministry of his resurrection. And the brotherhood 
of which he is chief has been with him, is with him, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 315 

and will be with him, from the beginning to the end 
of his divine work. 



As revealed to Joseph it is written in the Books 
of the Ancients that Michael, the great Archangel, 
was the first of the sons of God who came down to 
earth. 

This was Adam. On earth, man; in the home of 
his spirit, an archangel. He was one of the spirits 
of whom Abraham has spoken, in whose midst the 
Father stood and said, "These will I make my 
rulers ! " 

Adam came down to be the father of a world ; 
hence the command to him and his consort, " Be 
fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth, and 
subdue it." 

And by the Prophet's] finding a new significance 
is given to " the fall " of Adam, in that it was to ac- 
complish the great purposes of the Father in bring- 
ing forth a race of mortals. Lehi, the Patriarch of 
the Book of Mormon, in explaining this mystery to 
his sons, says : 

" And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed, 
he would not have fallen ; but he would have re- 
mained in the garden of Eden. And all things 
which were created must have remained in the state 
in which they were after they were created ; and 
they must have remained forever, and had no end. 
And they would have had no children ; wherefore 
they would have remained in a state of innocence ; 
having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no 



316 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

good, for they knew no sin. But, behold, all things 
have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth 
all things. And Adam fell that men might be ; and 
men are that they might have joy." 

This is the clearest exposition of the object of 
"the fall," on record. 

Then commenced the preaching of the gospel of 
redemption through Christ. This was by the ad- 
ministration of angels and the Holy Ghost. 

Witness the word -of the Lord to Moses, as re- 
vealed by Joseph: "And Adam called upon the 
name of the Lord, and Eve also, his wife, and they 
heard the voice of the Lord from the way towards 
the garden # of Eden, speaking unto them, and they 
saw him not, for they were shut out from his pres- 
ence. And he gave unto them commandment, that 
they should worship the Lord their God, and should 
offer the firstlings of their flocks for an offering 
unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the 
commandments of the Lord. 

" And after many days an angel of the Lord ap- 
peared unto Adam, saying, why dost thou offer 
sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto 
him, I know not, save the Lord commanded me. 
And then the angel spake, saying, this thing is a 
similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of 
the Father, which is full of grace and truth. Where- 
fore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name 
of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God 
in the name of the Son for evermore. 

"And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon 
Adam, which bore record of the Father, and the 
Son, saying, I am Jesus Christ from the beginning, 
henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 317 

mayest be redeemed ; and all mankind, even as many 
as will. 

" And in that day Adam blessed God and was 
filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the 
families of the earth : Blessed be the name of God 
for my transgression, for in this life I shall have joy, 
and again in my flesh I shall see God. 

u And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and 
was glad, saying, were it not for our transgression 
we should never have had seed, and should never 
have known good and evil, and the joy of our re- 
demption, and the eternal life which God giveth 
unto all the obedient. 

" And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God ; 
and they made all things known unto their sons and 
their daughters." 

Strange as this revelation of Christ at the begin- 
ning of the world may seem to theologians educated 
in the belief that his revelation began with the days 
of his flesh, there is in it a broad and forceful con- 
sistency. Far stranger would it have been if he, 
being with the Father from before the foundation of 
the world, for thousands of years gave no sign of his 
mission and destiny. 

Verily the coming of Christ is the "glad tidings" 
of great joy to "all mankind," — as much to the an- 
cients as to us. 

Adam, our great mortal Father, was the first who 
heard those glad tidings. And all of it he had 
known before; but, in the altered circumstance and 
method of condition incident to his entabernacling in 
flesh, the memory of it had been obliterated. 

Continuing from the Book of Enoch, as revealed 
to Joseph : " And it came to pass when the Lord 



318 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

had spoken with Adam, our father, that Adam cried 
unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the 
Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the 
water, and was laid under the water, and was brought 
forth out of the water: and thus was he baptized. 
And the spirit of God descended upon him ; and 
thus was he born of the spirit, and he became quick- 
ened in the inner man. And he heard a voice out 
of heaven, saying, Thou art baptized with fire, and 
with the Holy Ghost. This is the record of the 
Father, and the Son, from henceforth and for ever. 
And thou art after the order of Him who was with- 
out beginning of days or end of years, from all 
eternity. Behold thou art one in me, a son of God; 
and thus may all become my sons. Amen." 

It will be observed that here we have one of the 
very first revelations that came from heaven to 
earth, and that it was given personally by the Father 
to Adam, his son. 

Let no one condemn this as a plagiarism from 
the parallel incident in Judea. There is in it an 
infinitely broader and deeper significance. Mark 
that parallel : 

"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan, unto 
John, to be baptized of him. 

" But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be 
baptized of thee, and comest thou to me ? 

" And Jesus, answering, said unto him, Suffer it to 
be so* now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all 
righteousness. Then he suffered him. 

" And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up 
straightway out of the water : and lo, the heavens 
were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God 
descending like a dove and lighting upon him : 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 319 

" And lo a voice from heaven, saying, this is my 
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 

In the light of Joseph's exposition this has a new, 
yet an eternal, meaning: Jesus was himself obeying 
the " Everlasting Gospel." Like as Solomon would 
observe the order of his own temple, so Jesus now 
observed the order of the eternal plan of which he 
was the master teacher. Therefore he said: 



" Suffer it to be so now : for thus it becometh us 
to fulfill all righteousness." 

And what a grand significance has Joseph brought 
to view in giving such an example at the beginning 
of the world. 

'Tis the selfsame divine method and sign made 
manifest in the two illustrious beings, who are be- 
come as two Adams, by having taken on the Adamic, 
or fleshy, condition. 

Paul is very suggestive here : 

" For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall 
all be made alive. * * * . 

"And so it is written, The first man Adam was 
made a living soul ; the last Adam was made a 
quickening spirit." * * * 

And the closing of Adam's mortal life, as revealed 
through Joseph, is also in point: 

"Three years previous to the death of Adam 
[vide Book of Enoch] he called Seth, Enos, Cai- 
nan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah, 



320 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

who were all high priests, with the residue of his 
posterity who were righteous, into the valley of 
Adam-ondi-ahman, and there bestowed upon them 
his last blessing. 

"And the Lord appeared unto them and they rose 
up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the 
Prince, the Archangel. 

" And the Lord administered comfort unto Adam, 
and said unto him, I have set thee to be at the head 
— a mu4titude of nations shall come of thee, and 
thou art a prince over them forever. 

"And Adam stood up in the midst of the congre- 
gation, and notwithstanding he was bowed down 
with age, being full of the Holy Ghost, predicted 
whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the lat- 
est generation," 

Thus, in his perfect system, Joseph has revealed 
the Messiah in the beginning ; first in the aspect of 
a Redeemer, next as the coming King of Zion and 
Lord of Righteousness. And thus is he made to 
be the hope of the world, even in the morning of 
man. 

In after ages it was written : " God so loved the 
world that he gave his Only Begotten [of the flesh] 
Son, that whosoever believed on him might not 
perish, but have everlasting life." 

Thus at the beginning : thus before the world 
was : thus " the Lamb slain from before the founda- 
tion of the world." 

Thus was the world begun in and through the 
infinite love of the Father. Thus, so to speak, have 
we been wafted earthward on the Messianic wave of 
heaven ; and notwithstanding we have sailed far out 
from the Father's presence, on the ocean of time 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 32 1 

and temptation, that Messianic wave will gather us 
back to his bosom when earth shall have performed 
the cycle of her probation. 



After Adam the greatest advocate of righteous- 
ness, in the first dispensation of the world, was 
Enoch. 

And " Enoch," says Joseph, "was twenty-five 
years old when he was ordained under the hand of 
Adam, and he was sixty-five when Adam blessed 
him." 

Enoch not only taught his people the gospel of 
the coming Messiah, but he was himself especially 
endowed and anointed with the Messianic Spirit. 
Indeed, among all the ancients to the coming of 
Christ, Enoch and Melchisedek seem most to have 
represented that spirit and mission among men. 

Therefore the Lord gave unto Enoch the power 
to build up Zion. 

Now the building up of Zion is Messiah's own 
work, for is it not written, " When the Lord shall 
build up Zion he shall appear in his glory." They 
only can build up Zion who are most like their 
Christ. 

"And he (Enoch)," says Joseph, "saw the Lord 
and walked with him, and was before his face con- 
tinually ; and he walked with God three hundred 
and sixty-five years, making him four hundred and 
thirty years old when he was translated." 

By revelation through Joseph the history of the 
patriarchal ages is thus continued : 

21 



322 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

"And it came to pass that Noah and his sons 
hearkened unto the Lord and gave heed, and they 
were called the Sons of God. * * * 

"And the Lord ordained Noah after His order, 
and commanded him that he should go forth and 
declare his gospel unto the children of men, even as 
it was given unto Enoch." 

But in process of time the sons of Noah departed 
from the way of the Lord, and took unto themselves 
wives from the " daughters of men." 

Then came the flood. 

But the sacred theme is best developed in the 
history of the Patriarchs themselves. 

Instance the case of Abraham at the time of the 
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah : 

" And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham 
the thing which I do; 

" Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a 
great and mighty nation and all the nations of the 
earth shall be blessed in him? 

" For I know him, that he will command his chil- 
dren and his household after him, and they shall 
keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judg- 
ment ; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that 
which he hath spoken of him." 

This is certainly an indication of the election and 
predestination of certain spirits whom God "fore- 
knew," with a very clear intimation that Abraham 
would teach his children the divine mysteries, of 
which that concerning the Christ was chief. At 
least the wondrous subject was communicated to 
such of his descendants as Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 323 

And thus was the knowledge of Messiah handed 
down among the Patriarchs and Prophets. 

Moreover, what was the offering up of Isaac but 
a type of the offering up of Christ ? Abraham un- 
derstood it ; therefore was he willing to obey the 
awful sign of his order. 

But Jehovah, though he tried Abraham, only in- 
tended it as the sign of the sacrifice, and the type of 
the Christ. 

It was not till then that the covenant was sealed 
with the oath of God. 

And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham 
out of heaven the second time, 

4i And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the 
Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and 
hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, 

" That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multi- 
plying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the 
heaven, and as the sand upon the sea shore. * , * 
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth 
be blessed ; because thou hast obeyed my voice." 

In a former chapter was given a view of the rise 
of Israel's nationality; but there is a subject in the 
chosen people even more important to the race than 
the rise of Israel's national glory. 

The Lord made his people Israel a link between 
the heavens and the earth. In them was communi- 
cation opened with the Father; and at the period 
when Israel was acceptable in his sight, the com- 
munication was so broadly popular as to be, in a 
sense, national. 

It was this fact that made Israel a blessing to the 



324 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

race. He was the Oracle of God, through his 
prophets,— the word of God to the world, — the gift 
of God to the nations. 

The genius of Israel was peculiar. There has 
been none like it in degree and kind. 

Jacob brought forth a race of prophets. So pro- 
lific was he in this kind of offspring that when 
Elijah bemoaned the fall of his people, saying : 

" For the children of Israel have forsaken thy 
covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy 
prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am 
left;" 

The Lord answered : 

(i Yet have I left me seven thousand in Israel, all 
the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and 
every mouth that hath not kissed him." 

» 

And undoubtedly these still held communication 
with heaven, for it was that which made them to be 
Jehovah's peculiar people. 

The ministration of angels, when Israel was in 
his divine moods, was also as an every-day circum- 
stance. 

True, the Chaldeans and other ancients dealt in 
magic, — were astrologers and soothsayers, and 
workers of miracles, by virtue of the genius that 
dominated them ; but Israel held communion with 
Jehovah and his holy angels. Through Israel was 
the Lord manifested to the nations. In Israel was 
he preparing to establish the kingdom of his Mes- 
siah. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 325 

But in course of time Israel said, " Give us a 
king to judge us." 

"And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto 
the voice of the people in all that they say unto 
thee ; for they have not rejected thee, but they have 
rejected me, that I should not reign over them." 

Messiah was Israel's true king, and he, by this 
communion of Israel with heaven, had actually 
reigned over them, though not yet come. 

But after Saul, the divine leniency manifested it- 
self in the acceptance of David, both as king and as 
the one through whom Messiah was to come into 
the world. 

Yet even the house of David fell and betrayed 
Israel into the worship of other gods. Then came 
the pronouncement of Jehovah's final will to Zede- 
kiah, king of Jerusalem : 

" And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose 
day is come, when iniquity shall have an end. 

" Thus saith the Lord God ; Remove the diadem, 
and take off the crown : this shall not be the same : 
exalt him that is low and abase him that is high. 

" I will overturn, overturn, overturn it : and it 
shall be no more, until he come whose right it is ; 
and I will give it him." 

Until then Israel shall have no more a king! 
Thus went the flat of Jehovah forth ! And the 
angels of empires heard the word of God. 

And yet a greater fall happened to Israel. His 
communication with the heavens was cut off; for 
the chosen people departed from the Lord. 



326 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

For four hundred years thereafter Israel was with- 
out prophets. His communication was cut off from 
the heavens. He was fallen indeed. No longer 
had he a mission to the nations. This was apostacy. 
And dire the consequence. 

Then came Jesus : "unto his own, and his own 
received him not. 

" But as many as did receive him to them gave he 
power to become the sons of God." 

With his coming came the reopening o£ com- 
munion with heaven. And this brought his martyr- 
dom. And significant is the fact that the same, in 
this age, brought martyrdom to Joseph. 



But the Messianic wave sweeps onward. West- 
ward gleams the star of empire and of civilization. 
Westward moves the Lord of Hosts, in the van of 
the world's enlightenment. Westward, softening 
barbaric Europe with his benignant influence, 
marches the Prince of Peace. On to America, the 
land of promise, there to consummate his second 
advent, there to reign in power and matchless glory! 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

america the alpha and omega of civilization 

joseph of the east and joseph of the 

west the everlasting hills birthplace 

of man — Joseph's scientific consistency — 
the american bible glimpses of primeval 

HISTORY. 

The genius of Mormonism is most emphatically 
American. It is new to this age, but new only in 
the sense of a reappearing, for its antiquity ante- 
dates the popular chronology of the world by many 
ages. 

The revelations of Joseph, made fifty years ago, 
are being strangely but consistently supported by 
the latest findings of science ; and therefore is Mor- 
monism becoming more and more significant. 

By Joseph's finding, the ever westward-sweeping 
wave of civilization arose not in the East, but in 
the West. The Occident, not the Orient, was the 
cradle of man. All of which gives force and mean- 
ing to the seemingly giant stride of American de- 
velopment in this " Nineteenth Century." The 
wave of pioneer civilization has swept round the 
globe and entered upon a cycle of consummations 
at the place of its beginning. Joseph revealed this 



328 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

t 

truth; Mormonism affirms it; science demonstrates 
it. 

•Thus is America to-day the Alpha and Omega of 
civilization, and thus has been inaugurated the day 
of consummation and of the restitution of all things. 

And in this fact also appears the logical consis- 
tency of Joseph's startling affirmations, that in 
America was the " fall" of Adam accomplished, and 
the Messianic epic inaugurated. Here first de- 
scended the "new Jerusalem" of God; here first 
established Enoch the "Zion" of the " Lord our 
Righteousness." 

And the tremendous antiquity of primeval Amer- 
ican history gives ample excuse for the rapid and 
ambiguous treatment of the first dispensations of 
man, by the Asiatic or Hebrew Bible; and the fact 
that the chronology of that Bible becomes accurate 
and trustworthy only at about the advent of Abra- 
ham, is in exact keeping with the fundamental fact 
that Abraham was a pioneer of civilization in the 
localities of which the Hebrew Bible treats. 

In Abraham's day civilization had reached the 
Orient. There was its front and focus then, and 
hence was it that the covenant of Messiah was made 
with Abraham. And in the Orient, — the antipodes 
of America, — began the prophecy and antetyping of 
the consummations that were to come, as the mighty 
wave swept homeward to the place of its beginning 
and to the inauguration of an exalted repetition and 
restitution of all things. 

Witness the significance of this, as antetyped in 
the prophecy so dramatically incarnated in Joseph, 
the son of Jacob : 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 329 

'; Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his chil- 
dren, because he was the son of his old age: and he 
made him a coat of many colors. 

" And when his brethren saw that their father 
loved him more than all his brethren, they hated 
him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. 

" And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his 
brethren : and they hated him yet the more. 

"And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this 
dream which I have dreamed: 

"For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the 
field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; 
and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and 
made obeisance to my sheaf. 

11 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed 
reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion 
over us? And they hated him yet the more for his 
dreams, and for his words. 

" And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it 
his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a 
dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon 
and the eleven stars made obeisance to me." 



Of this antetype in Joseph of the East, how ex- 
act the posttype in Joseph of the West ! He is also 
a dreamer of prophetic dreams. Substantially he 
sees this very vision, and tells it. And his brethren 
in the testimony of Jesus hate him for it, for to him 
their garnerings must pay deference and tribute. 
And when the sun, and moon, and stars of heaven 
do obeisance, by yielding to his seeric eye the 
mighty secrets of the universe, they hate him yet 
the more. 

"And Joseph went after his brethren. * * * 
And when they saw him afar off, even before he 



330 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

came near unto them, they conspired against him to 
slay him." 



But, although the details are significant, let us 
hasten to the denoument. 
Jacob is dying! 

" And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather 
yourselves together, that I may tell you that which 
shall befall you in the last days." 

Then his blessings upon the heads of his sons, 
and Joseph in his turn: 

"Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough 
by a well ; whose branches run over the wall : 

" The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot 
at him, and hated him : 

" But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of 
his hands were made strong by the hands of the 
mighty God of Jacob ; (from thence is the shepherd, 
the stone of Israel;) 

" Even by the God of thy father, who shall help 
thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee 
with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the 
deep that lieth under, blessings of the breast, and 
of the womb: 

" The blessings of thy father have prevailed above 
the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost 
bound of the everlasting hills : they shall be on the 
head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him 
that was separate from his brethren." 

And it was this destiny, nascent in the blessing 
of Jacob, that predetermined the course of Joseph's 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 33 1 

latter-day Israel to the rich vallies, and the " Ever- 
lasting Hills" of the land of promise. 

And see how admirably Moses, in closing his 
mortal ministry, keeps up the subject and broadens 
the view of Joseph's blessing: 

" And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be 
his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the 
dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, 

" And for the precious fruits brought forth by the 
sun, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, 

" And for the precious things of the earth and the 
fullness thereof, and for the good will of him that 
dwelt in the bush: (! !) let the blessing come upon 
the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of 
him that was separated from his brethren." 

It was this very blessing with which the Latter- 
day Israel came face to face, after their exodus, that 
made them at times almost fear that the " ancient 
hills," which surrounded them like the everlasting 
chain of promise, might give up their " precious 
things" before they were strong enough to withstand 
the rush of the Gentile that was sure to follow. 

But pass we now to the American Continent in 
the ancient times. 

In a previous chapter upon the historical ^subject 
of the Book of Mormon, we have seen how Lehi 
and his sons were brought to America. Joseph's 
branches had indeed "run over the wall," — from 
Palestine the lesser to America the greater " land 
of promise." Lehi, having called together his sons 
to bless them before his death, thus addressed his 
youngest son: 



332 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

"And now I speak unto you, Joseph, my last 
born. Thou wast born in the wilderness of mine 
afflictions; yea, in the days of my greatest sorrow, 
did thy mother bear thee. And may the Lord con- 
secrate also unto thee this land, which is a most 
precious land, for thine inheritance and the inherit- 
ance of thy seed with thy brethren, for thy security 
for ever, if it so be that ye shall keep the command- 
ments of the Holy One of Israel. * * * For 
behold, thou art the fruit of my loins; and I am a 
descendant of Joseph, who was carried captive into 
Egypt. And great were the covenants of the Lord, 
which he made unto Joseph; wherefore, Joseph 
truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of 
the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins, the Lord 
God would raise up a righteous branch unto the 
house of Israel ; not the Messiah, but a branch 
which was to be broken off; nevertheless, to be. re- 
membered in the covenants of the Lord, that the 
Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the 
latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing 
of them out of darkness, unto light; yea, out of hid- 
den darkness and out of captivity unto freedom. 
For Joseph truly testified, saying, A seer shall the 
Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer 
unto the fruit of my loins. * * * And he shall 
be great like unto Moses, whom I have said I would 
raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of 
Israel. * * * Behold I am sure of the fulfilling 
of this promise. And his name shall be called after 
me: and it shall be after the name of his father. 
* * * Yea, thus prophesied Joseph." 

The two promised lands are now linked in the 
seed of Abraham. Joseph, the " choice seer" of the 
West, is raised up out of the loins of Joseph of the 
East, to unlock the crowning civilization of the 
world! 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 333 

It was one of the startling affirmations of Joseph 
that the birthplace of man was in America; that the 
dawn of civilization opened in the Western Hemis- 
phere ; and that from this primeval continent man- 
kind, in course of time, spread over the whole earth. 

But the unprejudiced investigator will discover a 
rare consistency in this, when he stops to duly con- 
sider the recent discovery of geology — that the 
Adirondack region of America was the first dry 
land that arose from the primeval waters of our 
globe. The rational conclusion necessarily is, that 
where land first appeared there also appeared pri- 
meval man. The very extreme of science, as repre- 
sented by the evolutionists, would accept this fact 
at once, and certainly theology has no just ground 
for disagreement with science in this finding, though 
an impassable gulf remain between them as to the 
method. 

And furthermore, a retrospective view of those 
mighty civilizations that culminated in Egypt, leads 
the mind straight eastward, from Egypt to Persia, 
from Persia to India, from India to Thibet, from 
Thibet to China, from China to Japan ; and where 
next but unto America, the cradle of man ! 

The entire Adamic period, according to Joseph, 
was on the American Continent. Here was Eden ; 
here occurred the flood. But with Noah began the 
migrations of the race and consequent peopling of 
other lands. 

All this in the very face of the judgment and tra- 
ditions of ages, half a century ago, ere science or 
research had even hinted its possible confirmation. 

And the ordinance of baptism as exemplified in 



334 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Adam, whereby he was brought up out of the water 
and quickened with the Holy Ghost as a living fire, 
is doubly significant and doubly beautiful, when we 
recollect that it occurred on the spot where mother 
earth first arose from the waters to be quickened 
and blessed by the glorious„sun. 

And, according to Joseph, America had a Bible 
long before Moses wrote his Book of Genesis, long 
before the Hindoo Vedas, long before the Persian 
Zend Avesta. 

It was the Book of Enoch. And from it, in con- 
nection with the Book of Abraham, Joseph doubt-; 
less imbibed his peculiar views of primitive man. 
As seen from quotations already made, the Book of 
Enoch embodied not only the Adamic history, but 
the Adamic theology. 

And the scientific mind of our day will make no 
issue with the Book of Enoch in its narration of* 
events concerning the earth's physical progress. 
For instance : 

" There also came up a land out of the depth of 
the sea, and so great was the fear of the enemies of 
the people of God, that they fled and stood afar off, 
and went upon the land which came up out of the 
depths of the sea. And the giants of the land also 
stood afar off; and there went forth a curse upon 
all the people which fought against God : 

" And from that time forth there were wars and 
bloodsheds among them ; but the Lord came and 
dwelt with his people, and they dwelt in righteous- 
ness. The fear of the Lord was upon all nations, 
so great was the glory of the Lord which was upon 
his people. And the Lord blessed the land, and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 335 

they were blessed upon the high places, and did 
flourish." 

In plain modern language, the primitive peoples, 
including the giants which rugged nature in the 
primeval times produced, were awed by the power 
and wonders of the civilization which was developed 
in Enoch and his people, coupled with the rapid 
physical changes that the earth was undergoing. 

The crowning event of Enoch's history was his 
building of Zion, and the translation of himself and 
his people. 

In Noah's day came the flood. Then moved the 
remnant of the race over the mighty waters, swept, 
as it would seem, by nature herself, into a course 
accordant with her own course of physical evolution. 

Then followed a period when the race seemed to 
be supremely migratory. Witness a fragment from 
the Book of Abraham, concerning the founding of 
Egypt : 

" The land of Egypt was first discovered by a 
woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the 
daughter of Egyptus, which in the Chaldee signifies 
Egypt, which signifies, That which is forbidden. 
When this woman discovered the land it was under 
water, who afterwards settled her sons in it; and 
thus, from Ham, sprang that race which preserved 
the curse in the land. Now the first p-overnment of 
Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son 
of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after 
the manner of the government of Ham, which was 
Patriarchal. Pharaoh being a righteous man, estab- 
lished his kingdom and judged his people wisely 
and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate 
that order established by the fathers in the first 



336 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

generations, in the days of the first Patriarchal 
reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, 
his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the 
earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed 
him as pertaining to the priesthood." 



According to the same book, the descendants of 
Shem and Japhet migrated elsewhere under similar 
circumstances ; in process of time evolving nation- 
alities and founding empires. 

Thus for nearly two thousand years, to the days 
of David, including the early part of the Mosaic 
dispensation ; and a colony of Shemites, under Jared 
and his brother, immediately after the " confusion of 
tongues," were led back by the Lord to the primi- 
tive home in America. 

And herein appears a decided consistency in the 
preservation of something like a common system of 
ancient religion among the various races. Indeed, 
what more consistent than that wherever these 
divine teachers and their descendants migrated they 
preserved the knowledge of, and taught among 
themselves, the divine mysteries. And thus though 
Abraham became the direct line chosen by Jehovah, 
with his covenant in them, the Providence of the 
world raised up great and good men outside of 
Abraham's line, to be the lawgivers of the various 
civilizations. But all these civilizations are sweep- 
ing down towards the crowning civilization of the 
Messiah, who shall come to reign in the fullness of 
time. This is indeed the true signification of the 
universal dispensation opened by Joseph in the 
present age. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 337 

But for completeness of historical detail, as laid 
bare by Joseph, let us return to Jared and his 
brother, who, as we have seen, were led to America. 
The Book of Ether is the Bible of the Jaredites. 
The angel Moroni, who has incorporated a frag- 
ment of it in his Book of Mormon, thus announces 
it : 

" An abridgement taken from the Book of Ether 
also ; which is a record of the people of Jared ; who 
were scattered at the time the Lord confounded the 
language of the people, when they were building a 
tower to get to heaven ; which is to shew unto the 
remnant of the House of Israel what great things 
the Lord hath done for their fathers ; and that they 
may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are 
not cast off for ever; and also to the convincing of 
the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the 
Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations. 
And now if there are faults, they are the mistakes 
of men ; wherefore condemn not the things of God, 
that ye may be found spotless at the judgment seat 
of Christ." 

Of this early return of a colony of the race to -the 
primitive home, under Jared and his brother, Ether 
says : 

"And it came to pass that the brother of Jared 
did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compas- 
sion upon their friends, and their families also, that 
they were not confounded. And it came to pass 
that Jared spake again unto his brother, saying, go 
and inquire of the Lord whether he will drive us 
out of the land, and if he will drive us out of the 
land, cry unto him whither we shall go. And who 



338 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land 
which is choice above all the earth. And if it so 
be, let us be faithful unto the Lord, that we may 
receive it for our inheritance. * * * * And it 
came to pass that the Lord did hear the brother of 
Jared, and had compassion upon him, and said unto 
him, go to and gather together thy flocks, both male 
and female, of every kind ; and also of the seed of 
the earth of every kind, and thy families ; and also 
Jared thy brother and his family; and also thy 
friends and their families, and the friends of Jared 
and their families. And when thou hast done this, 
thou shalt go at the head of them down into the 
valley, which is northward. And there will I meet 
thee, and I will go before thee into a land which is 
choice above all the land of the earth. And there 
will I bless thee and thy seed, and raise up unto me 
of thy seed, and of the seed of thy brother, and they 
who shall go with thee, a great nation." 

And thus was this ancient colony led to America, 
the home of their forefathers. 

This "brother of Jared," whose name for some 
reason is not given, was the first grand prophet of 
his nation ; and there is told of him the following 
beautiful story of the Lord showing himself per- 
sonally to him just before they embarked in their 
eight vessels for the " Land of Promise." He had 
gone up into a mount which they called Mount 
Shelem, to ask the Lord to endow a number of pre- 
pared stones with miraculous power of light, and he 
thus prayed : 

" And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, 
and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of 
man ; therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 339 

thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine 
forth in darkness ; and they shall shine forth unto 
us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we 
may have ligdit while we shall cross the sea. Be- 

J o 

hold, O Lord, thou canst do this. We know that 
thou art able to shew forth great power, which looks 
small unto the understanding of men. And it came 
to pass that when the brother of Jared had said 
these words, behold, the Lord stretched forth his 
hand and touched the stones, one by one with his 
finger ; and the vail was taken off the eyes of the 
brother of Jared, and he saw the finger of the Lord; 
and it was as the finger of a man, like unto flesh 
and blood ; and the brother of Jared fell down 
before the Lord, for he was struck with fear. And 
the Lord saw that the brother of Jared had fallen to 
the earth ; and the Lord said unto him, arise, why 
hast thou fallen ? And he said unto the Lord, I 
saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he 
should smite me ; for I knew not that the Lord had 
flesh and blood. And the Lord said unto him, be- 
cause of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take 
upon me flesh and blood ; and never has man come 
before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast ; 
for were it not so, ye could not have seen my finger. 
Sawest thou more than this ? And he answered, 
Nay, Lord, shew thyself unto me. And the Lord 
said unto him, believest thou the words which I 
shall speak ? And he answered, yea, Lord, I know 
that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of 
truth, and canst not lie. And when he had said 
these words, behold, the Lord shewed himself unto 
him, and said, because thou knowest these things, ye 
are redeemed from the fall ; therefore ye are brought 
back into my presence; therefore I shew myself 
unto you. Behold, I am he who was prepared 
from the foundation of the world to redeem my 
people. Behold I am Jesus Christ I r.m Xb.i Tr/l^r 



340 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET, 

and the Son. In me shall all mankind have light, 
and that eternally, even they who shall believe on 
my name ; and they shall become my sons* and my 
daughters. And never have I shewed myself unto 
man whom I have created, for never has man be- 
lieved in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are 
created after mine own image ? Yea, even all men 
were created in the beginning, after mine own 
image. Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is 
the body of my spirit ; and man have I created 
after the body of my spirit ; and even as I appear 
unto thee to be in the spirit, will I appear unto my 
people in the flesh." 

Then came a long period of the Jaredite civiliza- 
tion in Ancient America, reaching down until sev- 
eral hundred years after the arrival of Lehi. This 
ancient civilization declined, and the Jaredites were 
extinguished by generations of civil war, much as in 
the case of the Nephites, whose history has been 
already sketched. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE MINISTRATION OF JESUS TO ANCIENT AMERICA 

"ON THE MORROW COME I INTO THE WORLD " 

SIGN OF HIS CRUCIFIXION HE APPEARS UNTO 

THE NEPHITES AFTER HIS RESURRECTION. AND 

TARRIES WITH THEM HE CHOOSES TWELVE 

APOSTLES THE THREE NEPHITES WHO WERE 

NEVER TO TASTE DEATH. 

But the chief subject of the Book of Mormon is 
the ministry of Jesus to Ancient America. As pre- 
viously shown, a knowledge of the Christ was had 
among the ancients of this greater land of promise 
from the beginning. Among the Nephites espe- 
cially, his coming was the subject of repeated proph- 
esvinor. 

The following from the Book of Xephi (one of 
the Books of the Book of Mormon\ is in point : 

" Xow it came to pass that there was a day set 
apart by the unbelievers, that all those who believed 
in those traditions should be put to death, except 
the sign should come to pass which had been given 
by Samuel the prophet. Xow it came to pass that 
when Xephi, the son of Xephi, saw this wickedness 
of his people, his heart was exceeding sorrowful. 
And it came to pass that he went out and bowed 



342 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to 
his God, in behalf of his people ; yea, those who 
were about to be destroyed because of their faith in 
the tradition of their fathers. And it came to pass 
that he cried mightily unto the Lord, all the day ; 
and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, 
saying, Lift up your head and be of good cheer, for 
behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall 
the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into 
the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill 
all that which I have caused to be spoken by the 
mouth of my holy prophets. Behold, I come unto 
my own, to fulfill all things which I have made 
known unto the children of men, from the founda- 
tion of the world, and do the will, both of the 
Father, and of the Son ; of the Father, because of 
me, and of the Son, because of my flesh. And be- 
hold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the 
sign be given. 

" And it came to pass that the words which came 
unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had 
been spoken ; for behold at the going down of the 
sun, there was no darkness ; and the people began 
to be astonished, because there was no darkness 
when the night came. And there were many, who 
had not believed the words of the prophets, fell to 
the earth and became as if they were dead, for they 
knew that the great plan of destruction which they 
had laid for those who believed in the words of the 
prophets, had been frustrated ; for the signal which 
had been given was already at hand ; and they be- 
gan to know that the Son of God must shortly 
appear ; yea, in fine, all the people upon the face of 
the whole earth, from the West to the East, both in 
the land north and in the land south, were so ex- 
ceedingly astonished, that they fell to the earth; for 
they knew that the prophets had testified of these 
things for many years, and that the sign which had 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 343 

been given, was already at hand ; and they began to 
fear because of their iniquity and their unbelief. 

11 And it came to pass that there was no darkness 
in all that night, but it was as light as though it was 
midday. And it came to pass that the sun did rise 
in the morning again, according to its proper order; 
and they knew that it was the day that the Lord 
should be born, because of the sign which had been 
given." 

In the sacred records of no people is there a 
more striking view of the pre-existence of Christ 
than this ; and his annunciation, " On the morrow 
come I into the world," is so like Jesus in its beau- 
tiful simplicity, yet grandeur of personal announce- 
ment, that it cannot but charm the imagination. 

But during the mortal life of Jesus at Jerusalem, 
the sign of his coming lost its awe in the minds of 
the Nephites, and they fell into unbelief. Then 
came the crucifixion at Jerusalem, which in America 
was signaled by the destruction of cities, by earth- 
quakes, etc., and darkness for the space of three 
days. 

" Then the voice of Jesus risen from the dead, 
declared this destruction to be in consequence of 
the wickedness of the peop'le, while to those which 
remained the voice of the invisible Lord cried, " O 
all ye that are spared, because ye were more right- 
eous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and 
repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may 
heal you ? Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will 
come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, 
mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and 
whosoever will come, him will I receive ; and blessed 
are those who come unto me. Behold I am Jesus 



344 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and 
the earth, and all things that in them are. I was 
with the Father from the beginning. I am in the 
Father, and the Father in me ; and in me hath the 
Father glorified his name. I came unto my own, 
and my own received me not. And the scriptures 
concerning my coining are fulfilled. And as many 
as have received me, to them have I given to be- 
come the sons of God ; and even so will I to as 
many as shall believe on my name, for behold, by 
me redemption cometh, and in me is the law of 
Moses fulfilled. I am the light and the life of the 
world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and 
the end. And ye shall offer up unto me no more 
the shedding of blood ; yea, your sacrifices and 
your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will 
accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offer- 
ings; and ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a 
broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso 
cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite 
spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy 
Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith 
in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized 
with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew 
it not. Behold, I have come unto the world to 
bring redemption unto the world, to save the world 
from sin : therefore whoso repenteth and cometh 
unto me as a little child, him will I receive : for of 
such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I 
have laid down my life, and have taken it up again ; 
therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the 
earth, and be saved. 

11 And now behold, it came to pass that all the 
people of the land did hear these sayings, and did 
witness of it. And after these sayings there was 
silence in the land for the space of many hours ; for 
so great was the astonishment of the people that 
they did cease lamenting and howling for the loss of 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 345 

their kindred which had been slain ; therefore there 
was silence in all the land for the space of many 
hours." 

The next chapter of Xephi opens with the per- 
sonal appearing of the Lord. He writes : 

" And now it came to pass that there were a great 
multitude gathered together, of the people of Nephi. 
round about the temple which was in the land 
Bountiful ; and thev were marveling and wondering 
one with another, and were shewing one to another 
the great and marvelous change which had taken 
place; and they were also conversing about this 
Jesus Christ, of whom the sign had been given con- 
cerning his death. 

"And it came to pass that while they were thus 
conversing one with another, they heard a voice as 
if it came out of heaven ; and they cast their eyes 
round about, for they understood not the voice which 
they heard ; and it was not a harsh voice, neither 
was it a loud voice ; nevertheless, and notwithstand- 
ing it being a small voice, it did pierce them that 
did hear to the centre, insomuch that there was no 
part of their frame that it did not cause to quake , 
yea. it did pierce them to the very soul, and did 
cause their hearts to burn. And it came to pass 
that again they heard the voice, and they under- 
stood it not ; and again the third time they did hear 
the voice, and did open their ears to hear it ; and 
their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they 
did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence 
the sound came ; and behold the third time they did 
understand the voice which they heard ; and it said 
unto them, behold my beloved Son, in whom I am 
well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name : 
hear ye him. 



34-6 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" And it came to pass as they understood, they 
cast their eyes up again towards heaven ; and be- 
hold, they saw a man descending out of heaven ; 
and he was clothed in a white robe, and he came 
down and stood in the midst of them, and the eyes 
of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and 
they durst not open their mouths, even one to 
another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought 
it was an angel that had appeared unto them. 

"And it came to pass that he stretched forth his 
hand and spake unto the people, saying, behold, I 
am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall 
come into the world ; and behold, I am the light 
and the life of the world ; and I have drunk out of 
that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and 
have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins 
of the world, in the which I have suffered the will 
of the Father in all things from the beginning. 

"And it came to pass that when Jesus hacj spoken 
these words, the whole multitude fell to the earth, 
for they remembered that it had been prophesied 
among them that Christ should shew himself unto 
them after his ascension into heaven. 

" And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto 
them, saying, arise and come forth unto me, that ye 
may thrust your hands into my side, and also that 
ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and 
in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of 
Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and I have 
been slain for the sins of the world. 

" And it came to pass that the multitude went 
forth, and thrust 'their hands into his side, and did 
feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his 
feet ; and this they did do, going forth one by one, 
until they had all gone forth, and did see with their 
eyes, and did feel with their hands, and did know of 
a surety, and did bear record, that it was he of whom 
it was written by the prophets that should come. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 347 

And when they had all gone forth and had wit- 
nessed for themselves, they did cry out with one 
accord, saying, hosanna ! blessed be the name of the 
Most High God ! And they did fall down at the 
feet of Jesus, and did worship him. 

" And it came to pass that he spake unto Nephi 
(for Xephi was among the multitude), and he com- 
manded him that he should come forth. And 
Nephi arose and went forth, and bowed himself be- 
fore the Lord, and he did kiss his feet. And the 
Lord commanded him that he should arise. And 
he arose and stood before him. And the Lord said 
unto him, I give unto you power that ye shall bap- 
tize this people when I am again ascended into 
heaven. And again the Lord called others, and 
said unto them likewise; and he gave unto them 
power to baptize. And he said unto them, on this 
wise shall ye baptize ; and there shall be no dispu- 
tations among you. Verily I say unto you, .that 
whoso repenteth of his sins through your words, 
and desireth to be baptized in my name, on this 
wise shall ye baptize them : behold, ye shall go 
down and stand in the water, and in my name shall 
ye baptize them. And now behold, these are the 
words which ye shall say, calling them by name, 
saying, Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, 
I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. And then 
shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth 
again out of the water. And after this manner 
shall ye baptize in my name, for behold, verily I say 
unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the 
Holy Ghost are one ; and I am in the Father, and 
the Father in me, and the Father and I are one. 
And according- as I have commanded you, thus shall 
ye baptize. And there shall be no disputations 
among you, as there hath hitherto been ; neither 
shall there be disputations among you concerning 



34-8 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the points of my doctrine, as there hath hitherto 
been ; for verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath 
the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the 
devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth 
up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one 
with another. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to 
stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against 
another ; but this is my doctrine, that such things 
should be done away. Behold, verily, verily, I say 
unto you, I will declare unto you my doctrine. 
And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine 
which the Father hath given unto me ; and I bear 
record of the Father, and the Father beareth record 
of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of >the 
Father and me, and I bear record that the Father 
commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and 
believe in me ; and whoso believeth in me, and is 
baptized, the same shall be saved ; and they are 
they who shall inherit the kingdom of God. And 
whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall 
be damned. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this 
is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the 
Father; and whoso believeth in me, believeth in 
the Father also, and unto him will the Father bear 
record of me; for he will visit him with fire, and 
with the Holy Ghost. And thus will the Father 
bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear 
record unto him of the Father and me ; for the 
Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one. 

" And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and 
become as a little child, and be baptized in my 
name, or ye can in no wise receive these things. 
And again I say untjO you, ye must repent, and be 
baptized in my name, and become as a little child, 
or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. 
Verily,- verily I say unto you, that this is my doc- 
trine, and whoso buildeth upon this, buildeth upon 
my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 349 

against them. And whoso shall declare more or 
less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the 
same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock, 
but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the 
gates of hell standeth open to receive such, when 
the floods come and the winds beat upon them. 
Therefore go forth unto this people, and declare 
the words which I have spoken unto the ends of the 
earth. And it came to pass that when Jesus had 
spoken these words unto Nephi, and to those who 
had been called (now the number of them who had 
been called, and received power and authority to 
baptize, were twelve), and behold he stretched forth 
his hand unto the multitude, and cried unto them 
saying, blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the 
words of these twelve whom I have chosen from 
among you to minister unto you, and to be your 
servants; and unto them I have given power, that 
they may baptize you with water; and after that ye 
are baptized with water, behold I will baptize you 
with fire and with b the Holy Ghost; therefore 
blessed are ye if ye shall believe in me, and be bap- 
tized, after that ye have seen me and know that I 
am. And again, more blessed are they who shall 
believe in your words because that ye shall testify 
that ye have seen me, and that ye know that I am. 
Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your 
words, and come down into the depths of humility 
and be baptized, for they shall be visited with fire 
and with the Holy Ghost, and shall receive a re- 
mission of their sins." 

After this Jesus continued to teach the multitude 
his gospel and spiritual philosophy, much as he did 
to his disciples in Jerusalem. 

" And now it came to pass," says Nephi, " that 



350 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

when Jesus had ended these sayings, he cast his 
eyes round about on the multitude, and said unto 
them, behold, ye have heard the things which I have 
taught before I ascended to my Father ; therefore 
whoso remembereth these sayings of mine, and 
doeth them, him will I raise up at the last day. * * 
And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken 
these wbrds, he said unto those twelve whom he had 
chosen, ye are my disciples ; and ye are a light unto 
this people, who are a remnant of the house of Jo- 
seph. And behold, this is the land of your inherit- 
ance ; and the Father hath given it unto you. * * 
And verily, verily, I say unto you, that I have other 
sheep, which are not of this land ; neither of the 
land of Jerusalem ; neither in any parts of that land 
round about, whither I have been to minister. For 
they of whom I speak, are they who have not as yet 
heard my voice ; neither have I at any time mani- 
fested myself unto them. But I have received a 
commandment of the Father, that I shall go unto 
them, and that they shall hear my voice, and shall 
be numbered among my sheep, that there may be 
one fold, and one shepherd ; therefore I go to show 
myself unto them. And I command you that ye 
shall write these sayings, after I am gone, that if it 
so be that my people at Jerusalem, they who have 
seen me, and been with me in my ministry, do not 
ask the Father in my name, that they may receive 
a knowledge of you by the Holy Ghost, and also of 
the other tribes whom they know not of, that these 
sayings which ye shall write, shall be kept, and shall 
be manifested unto the Gentiles, that through the 
fulness of the Gentiles, the remnant of their seed 
who shall be scattered forth upon the face of the 
earth, because of their unbelief, may be brought in, 
or may be brought to a knowledge of me, their Re- ' 
deemer. And then will I gather them in from the 
four quarters of the earth ; and then will I fulfill 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 35 1 

the covenant which the Father hath made unto all 
the people of the house of Israel. * * * 

" Behold, now it came to pass that when Jesus 
had spoken these words, he looked round about 
aeain on the multitude, and he said unto them, be- 
hold my time is at hand. I perceive that ye are 
weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which 
I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you 
at this time; therefore, go ye unto your homes, and 
ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask 
of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand 
and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come 
unto you ao-ain. But now I q-o unto the Father, 
and also to show myself unto the lost tribes of 
Israel, for they are not lost unto the Father, for he 
knoweth whither he hath taken them. 

"And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus 
spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the 
multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did 
look steadfastly upon him, as if they would ask him 
to tarry a little longer with them. And he said 
unto them, behold, my bowels are filled with com- 
passion towards you : have ye any that are sick 
among you, bring them hither. Have ye any that 
are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or 
that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are 
afflicted in any manner? bring them hither and I 
will heal them, for I have compassion upon you ; 
my bowels are filled with mercy; for I perceive that 
ye desire that I should show unto you what I have 
done unto your brethren at Jerusalem, for I see that 
your faith is sufficient that I should heal you. 

" And it came to pass that when he had thus 
spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go 
forth with their sick, and their afflicted, and their 
lame, and with their blind, and with their dumb, and 
with all they that were afflicted in any manner; and 
he did heal them every one as they were brought 



352 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

forth unto him, and they did all, both they who had 
been healed and they wfio were whole, bow down at 
his feet, and did worship him ; and as many as could 
come from the multitude did kiss his feet, insomuch 
that they did bathe his feet with their tears. 

" And it came to pass that he commanded that 
their little children should be brought. So they 
brought their little children and sat them down 
upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood 
in the midst ; and the multitude gave way till they 
had all been brought unto him. And it came to 
pass that when they had all been brought, and Jesus 
stood in the midst, he commanded the multitude 
that they should kneel down upon the ground. 
And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon 
the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and saith, 
Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of 
the people of the house of Israel. And when he 
had said these words, he himself also knelt upon 
the earth ; and behold he prayed unto the Father, 
and the things which he prayed cannot be written, 
and the multitude did bear record who heard him. 
And after this manner do they bear record : the eye 
hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, 
so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard 
Jesus speak unto the Father; and no tongue can 
speak, neither can there be written by any man, 
neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and 
marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus 
speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which 
filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for 
us unto the Father. 

"And it came to pass that when Jesus had made 
an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so 
great was the joy of the multitude that they were 
overcome. And it came to pass that Jesus spake 
unto them, and bade them arise. And they arose 
from the earth, and he said unto them, blessed are 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 353 

ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy 
is full." 

The narrative continues with many miraculous 
events and many doctrinal instructions by Jesus, 
culminating in his leavetaking and ascension. 

"And it came to pass," says Nephi, "that when 
Jesus had made an end of these sayings, he touched 
with his hand the disciples whom he had chosen, one 
by one, even until he had touched them all, and 
spake unto them as he touched them ; and the mul- 
titude heard not the words which he spake, there- 
fore they did not bear record; but the disciples bear 
record that he gave them power to give the Holy 
Ghost. * * * 

"And it came to pass that when Jesus had 
touched them all, there came a cloud and over- 
shadowed the multitude, that they could not see 
Jesus. And while they were overshadowed, he de- 
parted from them, and ascended into heaven. And 
the disciples saw and did bear record that he as- 
cended aeain into heaven." 

o 

But, according to the record, Jesus repeatedly re- 
appeared to the disciples, and wrought miracles 
among the people. On one of these occasions he 
is represented to have granted the miraculous and 
truly marvelous favor of continued mortal existence 
to three of the Nephite disciples. The record is as 
follows : 

"And it came to pass that as the disciples of Jesus 
were journeying and were preaching the things 
which they had both heard and seen, and were bap- 
tizing in the name of Jesus, it came to pass that the 

23 



354 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

disciples were gathered together, and were united in 
mighty prayer and fasting. And Jesus again showed 
himself unto them, for they were praying unto the 
Father, in his name; and Jesus came and stood in 
the midst of them." 



He thereupon resumed his teachings, enlighten- 
ing their minds more particularly upon some ques- 
tions that were not clear to them concerning the 
organization of the Church. 

" And it came to pass when Jesus had said these 
words," says the record, "he spake unto his disciples, 
one by one, saying unto them, what is it that ye de- 
sire of me, after that I am gone to the Father? 
And they all spake, save it were three, we desire 
that after we have lived unto the age of man, that 
our ministry, wherein thou hast called us, may have 
an end, that we may speedily come unto thee, in 
thy kingdom. And he said unto them, blessed are 
ye, because ye desired this thing of me ; therefore 
after that ye are seventy and two years old, ye shall 
come unto me in my kingdom, and with me ye shall 
find rest. And when he had spoken unto them, he 
•turned himself unto the three, and said unto them, 
what will ye that I should do unto you, when I am 
gone unto the Father? And they sorrowed in their 
hearts, for they durst not speak unto him the thing 
which they desired. And he said unto them, be- 
hold, I know your thoughts, and ye have desired 
the thing which John, my beloved, who was with me 
in my ministry, before that I was lifted up by the 
Jews, desired of me ; therefore more blessed are 
ye, for ye shall never taste of death, but ye shall 
live to behold all the doings of the Father, unto the 
children of men, even until all things shall be ful- 
filled, according to the will of the Father, when I 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 355 

shall come in my glory, with the powers of heaven ; 
and ye shall never endure the pains of death; but 
when I shall come in my glory, ye shall be changed 
in the twinkling of an eye, from mortality to immor- 
tality: and then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom 
of my Father. And again, ye shall not have pain 
while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow, save 
it be for the sins of the world : and all this will I do 
because of the thing which ye have desired of me, 
for ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of 
men unto me, while the world shall stand: and for 
this cause ye shall have fullness of joy ; and ye shall 
sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your 
joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me 
fullness cf joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I 
am even as the Father; and the Father and I are 
one; and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the 
Father and me; and the Father giveth the Holy 
Ghost unto the children of men, because of me. 

" And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken 
these words, he touched every one of them with his 
finger, save it were the three who were to tarry, and 
then he departed. And behold, the heavens were 
opened, and they were caught up into heaven, and 
saw and heard unspeakable things. And it was for- 
bidden them that they should utter; neither was it 
given unto them power that they could utter the 
things which they saw and heard ; and whether they 
were in the body or out of the body, they could not 
tell; for it did seem unto them like a transfiguration 
of them, that they were changed from this body of 
flesh into an immortal state, that they could behold 
the things of God. But it came to pass that they 
did again minister upon the face of the earth ; 
nevertheless they did not minister of the things 
which they had heard and seen, because of the com- 
mandment which was given them in heaven. And 
now whether they were mortal or immortal, from 



356 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the day of their transfiguration, I know not ; but 
this much I know, according to the record which 
hath been given, they did go forth upon the face of 
the land, and did minister unto all the people, unit- 
ing as many to the church as would believe in their 
preaching; baptizing them; and as many as were 
baptized, did receive the Holy Ghost ; and they 
were cast into prison by them who did not belong 
to the church. And the prisons could not hold 
them, for they were rent in twain, and they were 
cast down into the earth. But they did smite the 
earth with the word of God, insomuch that by his 
power they were delivered out of the depths of the 
earth ; and therefore they could not dig pits suffi- 
cient to hold them. And thrice they were cast into 
a furnace, and received no harm. And twice they 
were cast into a den of wild beasts ; and behold 
they did play with the beasts, as a child with a suck- 
ling lamb, and received no harm. And it came to 
pass that thus they did go forth among all the peo- 
ple of Nephi, and did preach the gospel of Christ 
unto all people upon the face of the land ; and they 
were converted unto the Lord, and were united un- 
to the church of Christ, and thus the people of that 
generation were blessed according to the word of 
Jesus." 

Concerning the three Nephites, we are afterwards 
told that they were as ministering angels to the 
Nephite church for several hundred years, but when 
apostacy spread over the land they ceased to admin- 
ister ; yet Moroni, the last of the Nephite prophets, 
saw them during his lifetime. 

And to this day they are supposed to be minis- 
tering angels among the nations, unknown, except 
to those to whom they choose to reveal themselves. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



THE BIBLE BUT A CHAPTER OF THE BOOK OF GOD 

THE "GOOD SHEPHERD" FOOTPRINTS OF THE 

CHRIST THE INNUMERABLE TESTAMENTS THE 

UNIVERSAL MESSIAH. 



There is a vastness in the subject of the minis- 
tration of Jesus to this continent, of which the simple 
narrative gives but a hint ; for it leads the mind at 
once out of the narrow theological rut, wherein the 
Christ has been made to represent but a local ap- 
pearing and a local career in Judea, into the broad- 
ness of a Messianic effort, worthy in conception and 
adequate in purpose to meet our ideas of a truly- 
Godlike endeavor. 

In the enlarged and more glorious view of the 
Christ as a divine, persistent effort, manifesting to 
various nations, through a multitude of incarnations 
during the mighty sweep of the ages of man's exist- 
ence, appears indeed a plan and purpose worthy to 
be called the purpose of God. 

In the light of legitimate conclusions from this 
circumstance of Jesus' ministration to his chosen in 
America, what, after all, is the Bible of the Jews, or 
the Bible of the Nephites, but each a chapter in the 



358 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

stupendous Book of God ? And what are their 
testaments of Jesus but two episodes in the career 
of the universal Christ? 

Now, indeed, have we a new idea in the world, 
for in this narrative of his appearing to the Neph- 
ites have we not only confirmation of his previous 
ministry to the Jews, but by it is the path opened 
whereby we may trace the footprints of Messiah 
among many peoples, far removed from each other, 
in the scatterings of the human family. 

Verily Christ hath a personal mission to his elect 
among all nations. His "sheep" shall hear his 
voice ; for though they be dispersed to the ends of 
the earth, he will visit them. In the north and the 
south and the east and the west the "Good Shep- 
herd's" voice shall be heard, and his sheep shall 
know his voice, — "A stranger they will not 
follow." 

Consider well these strange but charming tidings 
of Messiah, which Joseph, the Messenger, hath 
brought in these latter days. What may the future 
reveal ? Where may we not look for his foot- 
prints? 

The subject of the " Lost Tribes" of Israel has 
lone confronted and confounded Christendom. Nine 
and one-half tribes lost to the grasp of the Hebrew 
chronicler, but not lost to their Messiah. He told 
the Nephites, and has now told us through their 
testament, which has " spoken out of the dust," that 
he was going to all the tribes — the whole house of > 
Israel — wherever scattered. And moreover, they 
should receive a command to write of his ministry 
among them, that their testaments might all come 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 359 

forth in due time, to witness of him, of his ministry, 
and of his resurrection : 

"And then will I gather them in from the four 
quarters of the earth ; and then will I fulfill the 
covenant which the Father hath made unto all the 
people of the house of Israel." 

In tracing the vast theology revealed by Joseph 
we have come to see that his themes of Messiah 
extend beyond the landmarks of all precedent; that 
they do not originate with Xephi or Moroni; that 
they commenced, on earth, with Adam ; that they 
were familiarly recognized in the eternities ; and 
that the archangels have published them over all 
lands where was to be found an Enoch, an Abra- 
ham, a Moses, a Paul, a Peter, a Xephi, a Moroni,— 
indeed to all the high priests of heaven, who have 
come down as Messiah's ministers. Truly this is a 
revelation of Christ compared with which the "glad 
tidings of great joy," published from the pulpits of 
sectarian Christendom is as the lisping of suckling 
babes. 

And where may not the footprints of the Christ 
be found? Was he Messiah of the Jews only who 
rejected and crucified him? Away with such nar- 
rowness. " I am the light and the life of the world!" 
And when the testaments of his manifold appear- 
ings shall come forth, behold a multitude of Bibles, 
— innumerable records of our Lord. — testaments 
that will not be as the dead letter of a few evangel- 
ists, in churches that are as much the sepulchres of 
the mummied past as are the catacombs of Egypt. 

And now, in confirmation of Joseph's sweeping 



36O LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Messianic view, how stands to-day the record of 
Christ among the nations ? 

There are supposed to have arisen in the world, 
at various periods of its history, something like fifty 
well-defined Christs of nations and special civiliza- 
tions. Most of these were born before Jesus of 
Nazareth, and sixteen of them are said to have been 
crucified. The evidence of their personal appear- 
ing and ministry is overwhelming. Perhaps the 
most famous and best defined of these is Creeshna, 
the Saviour of India, who appeared twelve hundred 
years before Jesus. His disciples are many fold 
more numerous than the disciples of Jesus, and his 
doctrines, experience and death are so nearly identi- 
cal with those of Jesus, that not only have the 
Hindoo philosophers affirmed that their Christ was 
the original of ours, but; the claim has been con- 
ceded to them by nearly every rationalistic investi- 
gator in Christendom. 

What shall we do with these facts ? 

Let them remain untouched, as sacred things ! 

The temples of everlasting truth need no prop- 
pings ! 

The Master Architect has built them on the 
foundations of eternity ! 

In the stupendous sweep of Joseph's theology are 
gathered all these facts. He who is the last reve- 
lator of Messiah, and the special witness of Jesus as 
that Messiah, has shown that the foundations of the 
temple of truth were laid, not in India by Creeshna, 
not in China by Confucius, not in Persia by Zo- 
roaster, but in heaven by the everlasting Father, — 
the Prince of Peace, — the Messiah. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 361 

And these types of the Christ — the Universal 
Messiah — are not copies of each other. It is 
neither finely nor broadly philosophical to so con- 
sider them. Joseph gave us the key to the whole 
mystery when he revealed a Universal Messiah in 
Jesus Christ, whose manifestation began before 
earth was. And all incongruity is swept away when 
we look upon Confucius, and Creeshna, and all the 
hosts of Christs that have blessed the world, as so 
many external types and incarnations of the Mes- 
sianic purpose toward men. 

Joseph's revelation of the pre-existence of the 
whole human family, with Jesus Christ at their 
head, before earth was conceived, is a wondrous 
comprehension of the subject in question. For in- 
stance, those " noble and great ones," those "souls 
that were good," were not all ordained to come 
through the loins of Abraham. Adam was not, nor 
Seth, nor Enoch, nor Noah, nor Melchisedek, nor 
Jared, and many others of Ancient America, who 
lived before Abraham. And it will be remembered 
that "One like unto God " stood in the midst of 
these "noble and great ones," and he said, "We 
will go down." And in their times and in their sea- 
sons they came, and revealed their Messiah to many 
nations ; but the world understood them not fully, 
nor the types which they manifested. 

Moreover, Joseph has extended the Messianic 
subject, not only to the including of a host of na- 
tions, but a host of worlds ! 

In a poem, vast in compass of idea, if not strictly 
artistic in versification, he says : 



362 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

"I, Joseph the Prophet, in spirit beheld, 

And the eyes of the inner man truly did see 
Eternity stretched, in a vision from God, 
Of what was, and now is, and yet is to be : 

"Those things which the Father ordained of old, 
Before the world was, or a system' had run, — 
Through Jesus, the maker and Saviour of all, 
The Only Begotten (Messiah), His Son. 



"And I heard a great voice, bearing record from heaven: 
He's the Saviour and Only Begotten of God : 
By him, ot him, and through him the worlds were all made,- 
Even all that career in the heavens so broad : 

"Whose inhabitants, too, from the first to the last, 
Are saved by the very same Saviour of ours." 



Whatever may be said of the versification, the 
subject is infinitely vast. Certainly no Christian 
divine of popular fame ever made such a stupend- 
ous revelation of the Christ. Deeply hid in the 
labyrinths of an antiquity sweeping back to the 
Patriarch of all flesh, do we find the footprints of 
the Christ. So also do we find the footprints of the 
Universal Saviour, in the circles of worlds and sys- 
tems, — "even all that career in the heavens" infinite. 

And mark the conception which Enoch had of 
the Creator and Saviour: 

"Were it possible that man could number the 
particles of the earth, and millions of earths like 
this, it would not be a beginning to the number of 
your creations ; and your curtains are stretched out 
still ; and yet you are there, and. your bosom is 
there. * * * You have taken Zion to your own 
bosom, from all your creations, from all eternity to 
all eternity." 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 363 

How overwhelming in its infinite sublimity is the 
revelation that these, " from the first to the last, are 
saved by the very same Saviour of ours ! " 

Surely Joseph understood the mystery of God, 
for Jesus is the revelator of it, and the spirit of Jesus 
was in Joseph, else he had never penned those won- 
drous words : "You have taken Zion to your own 
bosom, from all your creations, from all eternity to 
all eternity." 

And Jesus of Nazareth is not only our Saviour, 
but the Saviour of the Universe, and all the Uni- 
verse shall confess of him, — 

" Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God 
Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of 
Saints. * * * 

" And every creature which is in heaven, and on 
the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in 
the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, 
Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto 
him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb 
for ever and ever." 



CHAPTER XXXL 

ISRAEL UNDER THE CURSE DRIVEN TO HIS DESTINY 

HIS DISPERSIONS AND WANDERINGS IN GREAT 

BRITAIN IN THE I.7TH CENTURY JEHOVAH'S 

MONUMENT THE DELIVERER WESTWARD TO 

HIS FINAL BLESSING. 

And what of the destiny of Israel in the world's 
future? Shall the earth have joy and Israel be left 
desolate ? Shall the culmination and crowning of 
all civilizations come to pass in these latter days, 
and Jehovah's covenant people have no lot nor part 
in the matter? 

Pertinent questions these for even a modern Jew! 

Will Jehovah answer? 

Nay, hath he not answered in his wondrous deal- 
ings with his chosen people ? 

In the light of the mission and themes of the 
Prophet of Latter-day Israel a new and significant 
interpretation is given to the curse, and " Israel un- 
der the curse " becomes a manifestation of Provi- 
dential manipulation, as exact in its purposes and 
outcome as are the methods and conclusions of a 
scientific proposition. Witness the record, begin- 
ning with the curse, as uttered by Moses: 

$ 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 365 

11 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt 
thou be in the field. * * * * The Lord shall 
make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have 
consumed thee from off the land whither thou goest 
to possess it * * * * And thy heaven that is 
over thy head shall be as brass, and the earth that 
is under thee shall be iron. The Lord shall make 
the rain of thy land powder and dust : * '* * ■' * 
And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, 
and a by-word among all nations whither the Lord 
shall lead thee." 



And what was all this but the seeric perception 
and prophetic announcement of that which should 
befall the land of Palestine in the course of nature's 
inevitable physical transmutations? Jehovah, fore- 
knowing, prompted Moses to pronounce that inev- 
itable in his name, that Jacob at last might under- 
stand him, and with him " see eye to eye when the 
Lord shall bring again Zion." 

But witness the sequel also : 

"And it shall come to pass, when all these things 
are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, 
which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call 
them to mind among all the nations, whither the 
Lord thy God hath driven thee, 

" And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and 
shalt obey his voice according to all that I command 
thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine 
heart and with all thy soul ; 

" That then the Lord thy God will .turn thy cap- 
tivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will 
return and gather thee from all the nations, whither 
the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. 

" If any of thine be driven out unto the utmost 



366 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God 
gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee : 

"And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the 
land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt 
possess it ; and he will do thee good and multiply 
thee above thy fathers." 

We have seen that civilization had been moving 
westward from the time of the flood. And the 
learned Moses knew this, for he made the map of 
Israel's course and destiny with as much scientific 
exactitude as an astronomer's sketch of the heavens. 
In the fulfillment of Moses' prophecy the earth was 
but obeying her own law ; and in the dispersion of 
Israel Jehovah was but forcing his unwilling chil- 
dren into the channel of the world's progress. 

Had Jacob remained in Palestine he would have 
died and been forever entombed there. But such 
was not to be his destiny. Israel is Jehovah's liv- 
ing monument, — by his migrations pointing the 
very course, and time, and place of Messiah's com- 
ing. 

To the West, by the rod of his providence, has 
Jehovah driven his stubborn, self-willed people, to 
their greater destiny of the latter-days. And wher- 
ever their affections and fidelities have made them 
to linger, there has the rod of his chastisement de- 
scended, now in this guise, now in that, scourging 
them onward to their Zion, their blessing, their rest. 

And this accomplished, behold the promise, "And 
he will do thee good and multiply thee above thy 
fathers." 

Had Israel, as a nation, understood as much of 
the purposes of Jehovah as did Moses and the seers, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 367 

then had they been led, not driven, to their destiny. 
Had Jehovah succeeded in making of his Israel a 
nation of prophets and seers, then had they been 
taught of him the mystery of his providence, and 
the course which the Lord of the earth was taking, 
and they would have followed him even more will- 
ingly than when, as the angel of their covenant, he 
led them up out of the land of Egypt. 

But with the very promise of their possession of 
a land flowing with milk and honey came the affir- 
mation that they should leave it at some future 
time. While it remained thus productive and de- 
lightful, and while the East was the centre of civili- 
zation, they had there a destiny. But by and by 
Palestine was to become a desert, and by and by the 
mighty Orient was to become as the sepulchre of 
empires and civilizations. What business had Israel 
there in such a day ? ^ True, it should come to pass 
that Jacob should mourn the fall of Jerusalem with 
an awful lamentation, but above it all might have 
been heard the voice of Jehovah : " Let the dead 
bury the dead : follow me ! " 

Had Israel been wise unto salvation, the chosen 
people had not sat so long under the shadow of 
impending doom. Had he hearkened unto the 
Lord before the day of that doom's appearing, then 
had he understood the thunderings of impending 
calamities to have been the self-same voice that 
spake to Abraham, " Get thee out of thy country, 
and from thy kindred, and from thy fathers house, 
unto a land that I will shew thee." 

And was not this exactly the case with Lehi and 
his little Israelitish colony, who left Jerusalem in the 



368 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

days of Zedekiah, — just in time to escape the awful 
scourge of Nebuchadnezzar, — giving the initial sub- 
ject of the Book of Mormon ? 

Furthermore, did not the Jehovah-fearing men of 
England (in the seventeenth century, after the star 
of Bethlehem had risen to pilot the shepherds west- 
ward) hear this same command, " Get thee put of 
thy country ?" And did they not obey the word of 
the Lord ? not lingering to feel the sting of his 
chastisement, nor waiting for the curse of ages to 
scourge them to their Father's providence in them. 

These of England, in the seventeenth century, 
were a better Israel than they of old. And out of 
their obedience and true Israelitish faith an empire 
has already grown up in America, mightier and 
more blessed than all the empires of the past, — a 
kingdom without a king, waiting Messiah's coming. 

Such as Moses and Daniel were indeed prophets 
of empires ; and their forecastings were of the nature 
of an exact science. The exactitude with which 
Moses describes the final overthrow of the Jewish 
nation, nearly two thousand years afterwards, is not 
only invaluable as a key of Hebrew history and 
destiny, but is strikingly suggestive of a seeric 
science as well as a seeric gift. As witness: 

" The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from 
afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle 
flieth ; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not under- 
stand ; 

"A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not 
regard the person of the old, nor shew favor to the 
young: * * * 

" And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, * * 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 369 

" And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy own body, 
the flesh of thy sons and daughters, * * in the 
siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies 
shall distress thee."' * * * 



The complete Mosaic description of the siege of 
Jerusalem by the Roman power is a chapter of un- 
exampled horrors. Yet when the Lord brought 
against them the " nation of fierce countenance," 
whose armies were u swift as the eagle rlieth," and 
whose standards bore the eagle as an imperial em- 
blem, the prophecy was fulfilled most literally. 

In view of such an exact and terrible prophecy 
from Moses, ere the tribes had set their feet in the 
land of Canaan. Israel ought not to have waited 
the cominof of that terrible scouro-er, nor should 
Judah have been found in the city of David, with 
the blood of Messiah on his head, deserving that 
dreadful doom. 

But what if Israel had obeyed all the counsels of 
the Lord his God ? Then had he migrated west- 
ward. But could he not have remained in Jerusa- 
lem and escaped the doom ? Xo ; though Judah 
truly might have been less worthy to receive its 
awful seal. 

Rome was the iron power that ruled all nations 
when Messiah came. How significant his own 
words : " Render unto Caesar the things which are 
Caesar's." accompanied by his own act of paying 
tribute. In Jerusalem, even the King of Kings was 
under the feet of Caesar, in consequence of the in- 
exorable fact that dominion and empire had gone 
westward from Judea. 



370 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

But by and by, in his Zion of the West, will Mes- 
siah pay tribute to Caesar? Will the Lord and 
genius of America say, Render unto Rome / 

Fallen Jerusalem, for a century or two, continued 
to be as a loadstone to the Jews, yet was it also a 
millstone about their necks. In vain they attempted 
to restore it. In vain sought they again their des- 
tiny in the East. 

Through the very heart of the Christian empires 
that arose after their fall, the angel of the covenant 
forced the footsteps of the chosen people. Jehovah 
was indeed now driving them. Over all Europe 
were they scattered. More terrible than anything 
else on record has been their history. They had 
invoked the blood of their Messiah to be. on their 
and their children's heads, and their prayer was most 
awfully answered. 

But still was Israel Jehovah's monument ; still 
both a blessing and a necessity to the world. They 
had given their Bible to the Gentiles, and in their 
dispersions they were ordained to be the very torch- 
bearers of western civilization. 



" In Moorish Spain their numbers greatly in- 
creased, and they became famous for their learning 
as well as their trade. They were counselors, sec- 
retaries, astrologers, or physicians to the Moorish 
rulers ; and this period may well be considered the 
golden age of Jewish literature. Poets, orators, 
philosophers of highest eminence arose, and not 
isolated but in considerable numbers ; and it is a 
well established fact that to them is chiefly due — 
through the Arab medium — the preservation and 
subsequent spreading of ancient classical literature, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 371 

more especially philosophy, in Europe." — {Cham- 
bers Encyclopedia^. 

Holland was the first nation to lift up Judah and 
make him again a power in the world, and an ac- 
ceptable offering of the Providence that had wrought 
in and through him so much of blessing to the race. 
England next did Judah justice, and from Crom- 
well's time he has been rising to such an influence 
in the earth that the terrible past has been well- 
nigh forgotten. London has become to the Jew 
more than was Jerusalem to his fathers , and in our 
own day one of his blood has been raised to the 
Premiership of England, and more potent among 
nations is he than was Solomon in all his glory. In 
the coffers of the Rothschilds are locked the sinews 
of Europe, and in their hands is Europe's destiny. 
Verily to-day is Judah, in the old world, riding in 
the very chariots of civilization, while in America 
no barrier is interposed to bar the flight of his 
loftiest ambition. And thus is he coming from un- 
der the curse. 

And does all this mean nothing ? 

Nay; doth it not signify that the time has come 
for Jehovah to reveal his New and Everlasting 
Covenant to the whole house of Israel ? 

" And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, 
There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and he 
shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." 

And this is the significance of the rise of Joseph 
of. the West, whose mission is the prophecy of the 
Deliverer that shall come out of this Zion of all the 
earth. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

nations shall spring from thee— kings of peo- 
ple shall come of thee israel proving 

his blood — Messiah's kingdom rising in 
America — jehovah's chariots — the tumult 
of his coming the kingdom of heaven is 

AT HAND. 

" But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord : 
men shall call you the ministers of our God : ye 
shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their 
glory shall ye boast yourselves. * * * 

"And their seed shall be known among the Gen- 
tiles, and their offspring among the people : all that 
see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the 
seed which the Lord hath blessed. * * * 

" For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as 
the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to 
spring forth ; so the Lord God will cause righteous- 
ness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." 
— Isaiah. 

Judah has been well defined among the nations, 
by the curse which has scarred his brow ; but here 
is described an Israel which shall be known for the 
blessing, not the curse. 

Much light is thrown upon this point by the en- 
larged views of Joseph. According to his finding, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 373 

Jacob and his children are empires. The great 
Germanic race is the seed of Ephraim, or at least 
the seed of Ephraim is very markedly mixed in that 
race. The Scandinavian peoples are also greatly of 
Ephraim ; and so, as matter of course, are the Eng- 
lish and American nations. 

In this view of Israel let us now read the promise 
made to Abraham, by Jehovah, who " keepeth cove- 
nants:" 

" Behold my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt 
be a father of many nations. * * * I will make 
nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee." 

And to Sarah : " I will bless her, and she shall be 
a mother of nations ; kings of people shall be of her." 

Surely this has a fulfillment beyond that of the 
Israel in Palestine, with the short record of his 
kings, — so insignificant that the mighty rulers of the 
heathen scorned to recognize them. 

With this splendid view of Israel which Joseph 
has given, it can be easily imagined that some of 
the most potent monarchs of Europe have been of 
Israelitish blood, and that the mightiest spirits that 
have moved the world for the last thousand years 
were the offspring. of men such as were known of 
old as Jehovah's prophets. 

This gives new light indeed to the whole history 
of Christendom. Abraham is a " father of nations ; " 
"kings of people" have come of him. 

And here may be presented the singular fact that 
Great Britain bears the arms of Israel, — the lion of 
Judah and the unicorn of Ephraim. 

"Judah is a lion's whelp." Messiah himself is 



374 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

called the " Lion of the Tribe of Judah." Of Jo- 
seph, Moses said: " His glory is like the firstling of 
his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of uni- 
corns : with them he shall push the people together 
to the ends of the earth : and they are the ten 
thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands 
of Manasseh." 

The royal arms of Great Britain should therefore 
ethnologically signify a mixture of the blood of 
David and the blood of Joseph. The Welsh people 
show much of this Hebrew element in them. David 
is almost a national name among them. The Welsh 
harp is also suggestive of the Psalmist King. 

And now let us historically test this Israelitish 
subject, as enlarged by Joseph. Let the text be, 
"Their seed shall be known among the Gentiles." 

The blood of Israel will be known by its mani- 
festations. The Israelitish genius will speak in the 
peoples who are of Israel. This may be made quite 
a scientific problem. 

And Israel will most certainly antagonize the 
Romish power. The genius of Judah and the genius 
of Rome can but be in deadly antipathy. Rome was 
that "nation of fierce countenance" that destroyed 
Jerusalem. And who destroyed the Roman Em- 
pire ? Israel ! — The Ephraimites ! 

In the third and fourth centuries of the Christian 
era the Germanic hosts poured down resistlessly 
upon the iron empire of the Caesars, and upon its 
ruins built the empires of the West. In Ephraim 
was Jehovah's vengeance upon that nation of fierce 
countenance, that destroyed his once beloved Jeru- 
salem. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 375 

Alfred, the founder of England's greatness, was 
strangely Israelitish in character and method ; and 
his writings, which are voluminous, are peculiarly 
like those of David and Solomon. 

But it is to the period of the Protestant Reforma- 
tion, and that of the Cromwellian Revolution, that we 
must go for the most strictly Israelitish manifesta- 
tions. In those days the God of Jacob was not con- 
founded. 

First arose John de Witcliffe. He was called 
"The Morning Star of the Reformation." That 
star rose in England then, just as in this age it 
could rise only in America ; for the star of both 
empire and reformation has crossed the Atlantic. 

WicklifTe's controversy struck direct at Rome, 
else had he been no morning- star of Israel. He it 
was who called the Pope " Antichrist," and spake of 
him as "the proud worldly priest of Rome, — the 
most cursed of clippers and purse-kervers (cut- 
purses)." He it was who translated and unsealed 
the Hebrew Scriptures. And thus was it England's 
destiny to open the seals of Judah's Book. From 
that hour, as from an archangel's trump, rang forth 
the doom of the Romish Church. But what shall 
the awful pronouncement be when Judah himself 
sends back upon Rome the curse of ages ? 

A century and a half later, in Germany, Luther 
arose, and burned the bull of the Pope. Rome had 
a terrible fall over the Germanic nation. Those 
Ephraimites proved their blood. 

At about this time, however, Charles V., of Ger- 
many and Spain, attempted to restore the universal 
power of Rome to more than its pristine glory, 



376 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

while his brother-in-law, Henry VIII., of England, 
threw his might of character into the same scale. 
Fateful days for Israel ! Will Jehovah fail him ? 

A woman for the sacrifice ! One in whose veins 
flows the sacred blood ! Anne Boleyn ! The issue 
lost her her head, but it cost Rome a world ! 

From her Elizabeth ! Born on the eve of the 
Virgin's nativity! Died on the eve of the Virgin's 
annunciation ! The " Virgin Queen," indeed ! 

Surely here is Hebrew mystery ! Surely here is 
a star of the house of David risen in the West ! 

And statesmen, as well as mystics, were influenced 
by the sign of her imperial mission. In her was the 
fate of the world. With might and majesty she 
threw herself into the trembling balance, becoming 
the very prophetess and saviour of Protestantism. 
Calling herself the Lioness of England, she became 
in fact the Lioness of the Lord, and fulfilled a truly 
divine mission as the head of the English Church. 
The bishops of the Romish Church refused to 
crown her, and in her lifetime three Popes excom- 
municated her, but she forced her crowning and 
anointing, and in three months after her ascension 
overturned the entire Romish hierarchy throughout 
her realm. When the Pope anathematized her she 
ordered an anathema to be hurled back in his teeth 
from the solemn portals of St. Paul, a proceeding 
without precedent, and which probably no other 
mortal in Christendom would have dared to do. 
And when finally Pope Sextus and all the Catholic 
princes of Europe joined in a crusade against her, a 
mighty storm destroyed their invincible Armada off 
the English Coast. In those days 'twas said, " The 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 377 

Lord did it." Whatever may be said to-day, there 
never were such examples since the world began, 
till Cromwell and his Jehovah-fearing men cut off 
the head of their king in the name of the Lord of 
Hosts. 

The England of Cromwell's day was as Israelitish 
as were the tribes of Jacob when David reigned in 
Jerusalem. 

But at this date already had New England arisen. 
The Pilgrims had landed on Plymouth Rock, and 
Israel was migrating toward the Zion of the latter- 
days. The setting up of Messiah's kingdom was 
now a prophecy well defined ; the voice of the age 
was crying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." 

And what a remarkable fact is it that Israel in 
the seventeenth century actually attempted to es- 
tablish the Zion of the Lord in England ! That 
which those God-fearing- men of the Commonwealth 
undertook w r as no political revolution, in the ordi- 
nary sense ; it was an Israelitish upheaval in the 
world, — an upheaval that was sure to repeat itself 
in America. 

And those men of God, in the seventeenth cen- 
tury, called themselves " The Saints," and " The 
Latter-day Israel," just as do the Saints of America 
in the nineteenth century. Neither of them have 
minced their language in this regard. Indeed, they 
speak in the same tongue, the same words : their 
themes are one. The Latter-day Saints of England, 
under Cromwell, and these Latter-day Saints of 
America, under Joseph Smith, are the only two 
peoples who have strictly resembled each other 
during the whole Christian era. And the crowning 



37^ LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

fact is that not only do both possess the same ge- 
nius, but one is literally the offspring of the other. 

For a full century Israel, among the nations, was 
actually proving his blood. Notably so in Ger- 
many, England, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. 

What then shall we say of these wondrous mani- 
festations of an Israel among- the nations, — the 
voice of his genius and the instincts of his blood ? 
Is all this but the noise of Jehovah's chariots pass- 
ing by? Are not his angels turning earthward? Is 
there no purpose in this tumult of his coming? 

And filially, let us mark the fact that the founda- 
tions of our American nationality were not laid by 
Godless and ambitious colonists, but by the very 
men who had already raised in England the stand- 
ard of Messiah. Then came the Revolution under 
Washington, and the mighty Republic emerged upon 
the theatre of nations. At last a magnificent king- 
dom, without a king, — the Zion of God awaiting 
the coming of her Lord ! Then came Joseph, cry- 
ing in the ears of men, " Behold the kingdom of 
heaven is at hand ! " 

But the churches were deaf to this prophet of 
glorious tidings ; therefore have they sealed their 
own doom. They shall pass away. Rejecting 
Messiah, in their rejection of his Prophet, they shall 
themselves be rejected of him at his coming. 

Yet will Israel prevail, for outside of churches is 
gathering a mighty host ; and ears have they, and 
eyes to see, and faith, and courage true. And glo- 
rious testimony shall they give of the light that 
gleamed athwart the sky as Joseph rose to oracle 
the Zion of the Latter-days. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE TWELVE BIRDSEYE 

VIEW OF THEIR WORK IN GREAT BRITAIN 

DEATH OF DON CARLOS SMITH ORSON HYDE ON 

THE MOUNT OF OLIVES REMOVING THE CURSE 

FROM ISRAEL. 

Called home by the Prophet in the Summer of 
1 84 1, the Twelve began to return from the nations. 
Orson Hyde, however, continued on his apostolic 
mission to Jerusalem, while Lorenzo Snow remained 
in charge of the work in London, and Parley P. 
Pratt remained to conduct the general affairs of the 
British mission in conjunction with his editorship of 
the Mi lien n ia I Sta r. 

On the 1st of July, 1841, President Young, with 
Heber C. Kimball and John Taylor, arrived in 
Nauvoo, where they were cordially welcomed by 
the Prophet. Others followed. And concerning 
their joint work, Joseph thus summarizes : 

" All the quorum of the Twelve Apostles who 
were expected here this season, with the exception 
of Willard Richards and Wilford Woodruff, have 
arrived. We have listened to the accounts which 
they give of their success, and the prosperity of the 
work of the Lord in Great Britain, with pleasure. 



380 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

"They certainly have been instruments in the 
hands of God of accomplishing much, and must 
have the satisfaction of knowing that they have 
done their duty. Perhaps no men ever undertook 
such an important mission under such peculiarly 
distressing, forbidding and unpropitious circum- 
stances. Most of them, when they left this place, 
nearly two years ago, were worn down with sick- 
ness and disease, or were taken sick on the road. 
Several of their families were also afflicted, and 
needed their aid and support. But knowing that 
they had been called by the God of heaven to 
preach the gospel to other nations, they conferred 
not with flesh and blood, but, obedient to the heav- 
enly mandate, without purse or scrip, commenced a 
journey of five thousand miles entirely dependent 
on the providence of that God who had called them 
to such a holy calling. 

" While journeying to the seaboard they were 
brought into many trying circumstances. After a 
short recovery from severe sickness they would be 
taken with a relapse, and have to stop among stran- 
gers, without money and without friends. Their 
lives were several times despaired of, and they have 
taken each other by the hand, expecting it was the 
last time they should behold one another in the 
flesh. 

" Notwithstanding their afflictions and trials, the 
Lord always interposed in their behalf, and did not 
suffer them to sink into the arms of death. Some, 
way or other was made for their escape ;. friends 
rose up when they most needed them, and relieved 
their necessities, and thus they were enabled to 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 38 1 

pursue their journey and reioice in the holy one of 
Israel. They truly went forth weeping, bearing 
precious seed, but have returned rejoicing, bearing 
their sheaves with them." 

With this may properly be coupled the birdseye 
view which Brigham gave of the Apostolic work in 
Great Britain. He said : 

" It is with a heart full of thanksgiving and grati- 
tude to God, my heavenly Father, that I reflect 
upon his dealings with me and my brethren of the 
Twelve during the past year of my life which was 
spent in England. It truly seems a miracle to look 
upon the contrast between our landing and depart- 
ing from Liverpool. We landed in the Spring of 
1840, as strangers in a strange land, and penniless ; 
but through the mercv of God we have gained 
many friends, established churches in almost every 
noted town and city of Great Britain, baptized be- 
tween seven and eight thousand souls, printed five 
thousand Books of Mormon, three thousand hymn 
books, two thousand five hundred volumes of the 
Millennial Star, and fifty thousand tracts ; emi- 
grated to Zion one thousand souls, establishing a 
permanent shipping agency, which will be a great 
blessing to the saints, and have left sown in the 
hearts of many thousands the seed of eternal life, 
which shall bring forth fruit to the honor and glory 
of God ; and vet we have lacked nothing to eat, 
drink or wear. In all these things I acknowledge 
the hand of God." 

In the month of August following, Don Carlos 
Smith died, and his brother, the Prophet, in a gen- 
eral order to the Xauvoo Leg-ion, used the 



382 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

following characteristic language concerning that 
event : 

" It becomes our painful duty to officially notify 
the troops of our command of the untimely decease 
of that noble chief, Brigadier General Don Carlos 
Smith. He fell, but not in battle; he perished, but 
not by the weapons of war. At his burial you paid 
him honor, but he is gathered to his fathers to re- 
ceive greater honor." 

But the apostolic record of 1 840-1 would be 
markedly incomplete without the strikingly sugges- 
tive and significant picture of Orson Hyde on the 
Mount of Olives, blessing the sacred land of the 
prophets, and removing from it the curse of ages. 
In his report from Alexandria, Egypt, Nov. 22d, 
1 84 1, he says : 

" On Sunday morning, October 24th, a good while 
before day, I arose from sleep and went out of the 
city as soon as the gates were opened, crossed the 
brook Cedron, and went upon the Mount of Olives, 
and there, in solemn silence, with pen, ink and 
paper (just as I saw in the vision), offered up the 
following prayer to him who lives forever and ever: 

"O Thou who art from everlasting to everlasting, 
eternally and unchangeably the same, even the God 
who rules in the heavens above, and controls the 
destinies of men on the earth, wilt thou not conde- 
scend, through thine infinite goodness and royal 
favor, to listen to the prayer of thy servant which 
he this day offers up unto thee in the name of thy- 
holy child Jesus, upon this land, where the Sun of 
Righteousness set in blood, and thine Anointed 
One expired. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 383 

" Be pleased, O Lord, to forgive all the follies, 
weaknesses, vanities, and sins of thy servant, and 
strengthen him to resist all future temptations. 
Give him prudence and discernment that he may 
avoid the evil, and a heart to choose the good; 
give him fortitude to bear up under trying and ad- 
verse circumstances, and grace to endure all things 
for thy name's sake, until the end shall come, when 
all the saints shall rest in peace. 

" Now, O* Lord, thy servant has been obedient to 
the heavenly vision which thou gavest him in his 
native land ; and under the shadow of thine out- 
stretched arm, he has safely arrived in this place to 
dedicate and consecrate this land unto thee, for the 
gathering together of Judah's scattered remnants, 
according to the predictions of the holy prophets — 
for the building up of Jerusalem again after it has 
been trodden down by the Gentiles so long, and for 
rearing a temple in honor of thy name. Everlast- 
ing thanks be ascribed unto thee, O Father, Lord 
of heaven and earth, that Thou hast preserved thy 
servant from the dangers of the seas, and from the 
plague and pestilence which have caused the land to 
mourn. The violence of man has also been re- 
strained, and thy providential care by night and by 
day has been exercised over thine unworthy servant. 
Accept, therefore, O Lord, the tribute of a grateful 
heart for all past favors, and be pleased to continue 
thy kindness and mercy towards a needy worm of 
the dust. 

14 O Thou, who didst covenant with Abraham, thy 
friend, and who didst renew that covenant with 
Isaac, and confirm the same with Jacob with an 
oath, that thou wouldst not only give them this 
land for an everlasting inheritance, but that thou 
wouldst also remember their seed forever. Abra- 
ham, Isaac, and Jacob have long since closed their 
eyes in death, and made the grave their mansion. 



384 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Their children are scattered and dispersed abroad 
among the nations of the Gentiles like sheep that 
have no shepherd, and are still looking forward for 
the fulfillment of those promises which thou didst 
make concerning them ; and even this land, which 
once poured forth nature's richest bounty, and 
flowed, as it were, with milk and honey, has, to a 
certain extent, been smitten with barrenness and 
sterility since it drank from murderous hands the 
blood of him who never sinned. 

" Grant, therefore, O Lord, in the name of thy 
well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to remove the bar- 
renness and sterility of this land, and let springs of 
living water break forth to water its thirsty soil.. 
Let the vine and the olive produce in their strength, 
and the fig tree bloom and flourish. Let the land 
become abundantly fruitful when possessed by its 
rightful heirs ; let it again flow with plenty to feed 
the returning prodigals who come home with a 
spirit of grace and supplication ; upon it let the 
clouds distil virtue and richness, and let the fields 
smile with plenty. Let the flocks and the herds 
greatly increase and multiply upon the mountains 
and the hills ; and let thy great kindness conquer 
and subdue the unbelief of thy people. Do thou 
take from them their stony heart, and give them a 
heart of flesh ; and may the Sun of thy favor dispel 
the cold mists of darkness which have beclouded 
their atmosphere. Incline them to gather in upon 
this land according to thy word. Let them come 
like clouds and like doves to their windows. Let 
the large ships of the nations bring them from the 
distant isles; and let kings become their nursing 
fathers, and queens with motherly fondness wipe 
the tear of sorrow from their eye. 

"Thou, O Lord, didst once move upon the heart 
of Cyrus to show favor unto Jerusalem and her 
children. Do thou now also be pleased to inspire 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 385 

the hearts of kings and the powers of the earth to 
look with a friendly eye towards this place, and with 
a desire to see thy righteous^purposes executed in 
relation thereto. Let them know that it is thy good 
pleasure to restore the kingdom unto Israel — raise 
up Jerusalem as its capital, and constitute her peo- 
ple a distinct nation and government, with David 
thy servant, even a descendant from the loins of 
ancient David, to be their king. 

"Let that nation or that people who shall, take 
an active part in behalf of Abraham's children, and 
in the raising up of Jerusalem, find favor in thy 
sight. Let not their enemies prevail against them, 
neither let pestilence or famine overcome them, but 
let the glory of Israel overshadow them, and the 
power of the highest protect them ; while that na- 
tion or kingdom that will not serve thee in this 
glorious work must perish, according to thy word — 
'Yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.'" 



Is not this a magnificent illustration of the sub- 
ject and themes presented previously? What a 
picture is this of the " Times of the Restitution of 
all things," spoken of by the ancient prophets ! It 
is a prophecy, in the very action of the age, of the 
" New and Everlasting Covenant," to be made by 
Jehovah with all Israel. "Comfort ye, comfort ye 
my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably 
to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is 
accomplished," was the very burden of that scene. 



25 



I CHAPTER XXXIV. 

JOURNALISTIC COMITY JUDGE DOUGLAS FELICITA- 
TION — Joseph's creed — free masonry — an 

OBSERVER'S OPINION THE FEMALE RELIEF SO- 
CIETY GENERAL BENNETT GRAND REVIEW OF 

THE NAUVOO LEGION. 

The New York ZTW^ seems to have been the 
first leading journal in the country to give the Mor- 
mon people a fair presentation to the general public. 
This called forth a formal vote of gratitude from 
the saints, expressed through the city council of 
Nauvoo. The resolution — framed and presented 
by Joseph — is quite a curiosity of history, and the 
whole matter is the more worthy of record in view 
of that great journal's subsequent injustice and in- 
consistency : 

"Resolved, By the City Council of the City of 
Nauvoo, that the high-minded and honorable editor 
of the New York Weekly Herald, James Gordon 
Bennett, Esq., is deserving of the lasting gratitude 
of this community for his very liberal and unpreju- 
diced course towards us as a people, in giving us a 
fair hearing in his paper, thus enabling us to reach 
the ears of a portion of the community, who other- 
wise would ever have remained ignorant of our 
principles and practices. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. T>^>7 

" Resolved, That we recommend our fellow-citizens 
to subscribe for said paper, and thus be found pa- 
tronizing true merit, industry, and enterprise." 



And just at this time was formed what may be 
considered almost a covenant between Joseph and 
Stephen A. Douglas, as witness this sentence from 
a communication by Joseph to the Times and Sea- 
sons, Dec. 20th, 1 841: ' . 

" We claim the privilege of freemen, and shall act 
accordingly. Douglas is a master spirit, and his 
friends are our friends. We are willing to cast our 
banners in the air, and fight by his side in the cause 
of humanity and equal rights, the cause of liberty 
and the law." 

Perhaps no one of America's galaxy of great men 
was more thoroughly impressed with the extraordi- 
nary genius of Joseph than this " Master Spirit;" 
and he did not fail to express his convictions upon 
this point when occasion demanded. 

The auspicious opening of 1842 prompted Joseph 
to indulge in the following bit of felicitation : 

" The new year has been ushered in and contin- 
ued thus far under the most favorable auspices, and 
the saints seem to be influenced by a kind and in- 
dulgent Providence in their dispositions and means 
to rear the temple of the Most High God, anxiously 
looking forth to the completion thereof as an event 
of the greatest importance to the church and the 
world, making the saints in Zion to rejoice, and the 
hypocrite and sinner to tremble. Truly this is a 
day long to be remembered by the saints of the last 
days, — -a day in which the God of heaven has begun 



3o8 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

to restore the ancient order of his kingdom unto his 
servants and his people, — a day in which all things 
are concurring to bring about the completion of the 
fullness of the gospel, a fullness of the dispensation 
of dispensations, even the fullness of times, — a day 
in which God has begun to make manifest and set 
in order his church, those things which the ancient 
prophets and wise men desired to see, but died 
without beholding, — a day in which those things 
begin to be made manifest which have been hid 
from before the foundation of the world, and which 
Jehovah has promised should be made known in his 
own due time unto his servants, to prepare the 
earth for the return of his glory, even a celestial 
glory, and a kingdom of priests and kings to God 
and the Lamb forever, on Mount Zion, or the hun- 
dred and forty and four thousand whom John the 
Revelator saw, which should come to pass in the 
restitution of all things." 

The Prophet and his people were now attracting 
considerable public attention, both in America and 
Great Britain, and numerous inquiries began to pour 
in concerning their history and tenets. In answer 
to one of these, — the since famous John Wentworth 
of Chicago, — Joseph gave a concise sketch of the 
movement up to date, and an outline of theological 
dogma accepted by the saints. Beginning at the 
date of the document's appearing, we quote as fol- 
lows: 

u * * * YY e have commenced to build a city, 
called ' Nauvoo,' in Hancock County. We number 
from six to eight thousand here, besides vast num- 
bers in the county around, and in almost every 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 389 

county of the State. We have a city charter granted 
us, and charter for a Legion, the troops of which 
now number fifteen hundred. We have also a char- 
ter for a university, for an agricultural and manu- 
facturing society, have our own laws and adminis- 
trators, and possess all the privileges that other free 
and enlightened citizens enjoy. 

" Persecution has not stopped the progress of 
truth, but has only added fuel to the flame ; it has 
spread with increasing rapidity. Proud of the cause 
which they have espoused, and conscious of their 
innocence and of the truth of their svstem, amidst 
calumny and reproach, have the elders of this church 
gone forth and planted the gospel in almost every 
State in the Union. It has penetrated our cities, it 
has spread over our villages, and has caused thou- 
sands of our intelligent, noble, and patriotic citizens 
to obey its divine mandates and be governed by its 
sacred truths. It has also spread into England, 
Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In the year of 1840, 
where a few of our missionaries were sent, over five 
thousand joined the standard of truth. There are 
numbers now joining in every land. 

" Our missionaries are going forth to different 
nations, and in Germany, Palestine, New Holland, 
the East Indies, and other places, the standard of 
truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can 
stop the work from progressing; persecutions may 
rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, 
calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go 
forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has pen- 
etrated every continent, visited every clime, swept 
every country, and sounded in every ear, till the 



390 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the 
Great Jehovah shall say the work is done. 

" We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in 
his son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. 

" We believe that men will be punished for their 
own sins, and not for Adam's transgression. 

"We believe that through the atonement of Christ 
all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws 
and ordinances of the gospel. 

" We believe that these ordinances are, ist. Faith 
in the Lord Jesus Christ; 2d. Repentance; 3d. Bap- 
tism by immersion for the remission of sins ; 4th. 
Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

"We believe that a man must be called of God 
by ' Prophecy,' and by laying on of hands, by those 
who are in authority to preach the gospel and ad- 
minister in the ordinances thereof. 

" We believe in the same organization that existed 
in the primitive church, namely, apostles, prophets, 
pastors, teachers, evangelists, &c. 

"We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, 
revelations, visions, healings, interpretations of 
tongues, &c. 

" We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as 
far as it is translated correctly ; we also believe the 
Book of Mormon to be the word of God. 

" We believe all that God has revealed, all that 
he does now reveal, and we believe that he will yet 
reveal many great and important things pertaining 
to the kingdom of God. 

"We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and 
in the restoration of the ten tribes; that Zion will 
be built upon this continent ; that Christ will reign 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 39I 

personally upon the earth, and that the earth will 
be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory. 

" We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty 
God according to the dictates of our own con- 
sciences, and allow men the same privilege, let them 
worship how, where, or what they may. 

" We believe in being subject to kings, presi- 
dents, rulers and magistrates, in obeying, honoring 
and sustaining the law. 

" We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benev- 
olent, virtuous, and in doing good to a// men. In- 
deed, we may say that we follow the admoxiition of 
Paul,' We believe all things, we hope all things;' 
we have endured many things, and hope to be able 
to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, 
lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek 
after these things." 

"And again, I say unto you, that whoso forbiddeth 
to marrv, is not ordained of God, for marriage is 
ordained of God unto man ; wherefore it is lawful 
that he should have one wife, and they twain shall 
be one flesh, and all this that the earth might 
answer the end of its creation ; and that it might 
be filled with the measure of man, according to his 
creation before the world was made." — 0.0.49:3. 

" Behold, David and Solomon truly had many 
wives and concubines, which thing was abominable 
before me, saith the Lord; wherefore, thus saith the 
Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land 
of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I 
might raise up unto me a righteous branch from 
the fruit of the loins of Joseph. Wherefore, I, the 



39^ LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Lord God, will not suffer that this people shall do 
like unto them of old. Wherefore, my brethren, 
hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord : 
For there shall not any man among you have save 
it be one wife, and concubines he shall have none: 
For I, the Lord God, delighteth in the chastity of 
women." — Book of Mormon, Jacob, 2:6. 

In this connection may properly be quoted some 
portions of an article communicated to the Advo- 
cate, printed at the home of the Grand Master of 
the State, and presumably from his pen : 

" Having recently had occasion to visit the city of 
Navoo [the occasion was that of installing the 
officers of the Nauvoo Lodge], I cannot permit the 
opportunity to pass without expressing the agreea- 
ble disappointment that awaited me there. I had 
supposed, from what I had previously heard, that I 
should witness an impoverished, ignorant, and big- 
oted population, completely priest-ridden, and tyr- 
anized over by Joseph Smith, the great prophet of 
these people. 

" On the contrary, to my surprise, I saw a people 
apparently happy, prosperous, and intelligent. 
Every man appeared to be employed in some busi- 
ness or occupation. I saw no idleness, no intem- 
perance, no noise, no riot ; all appeared to be con- 
tented, with no desire to trouble themselves with 
anything except their own affairs. With the re- 
ligion of these people I have nothing to do ; if they 
can be satisfied with the doctrines of their new rev- 
elation, they have a right to be so. The constitu- 
tion of the country guarantees to them the right of 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 393 

worshiping God according to the dictates of their 
own conscience ; and if that can be so easily satis- 
fied, why should we, who differ with them, com- 
plain ? * * * 

" During my stay of three days I became well 
acquainted with their principal men, and more par- 
ticularly with their Prophet. I found them hospi- 
table, polite, well informed and liberal. With 
Joseph Smith, the hospitality of whose house I 
kindly received, I was well pleased. Of course, on 
the subject of religion we widely differed, but he 
appeared to be quite as willing to permit me to en- 
joy my right of opinion, as I think we all ought to 
be to let the Mormons enjoy theirs. But instead 
of the ignorant and tyranical upstart, judge my sur- 
prise at finding him a sensible, intelligent, compan- 
able, and gentlemanly man. In frequent conversa- 
tions with him he gave me every information that I 
desired, and appeared' to be only pleased at being 
able to do so. He appears to be much respected 
by all the people about him, and has their entire 
confidence. He is a fine looking man, about thirty- 
six years of age, and has an interesting family." * * 

At about this date was organized the Female 
Relief Society, which has subsequently, in Utah, 
grown into a flourishing and powerful organization. 

At about this date also beean the somewhat 
curious relations between the Mormon people and 
James Arlington Bennett, of Long Island. He it 
was whose letters in the New York Herald, before 
alluded to, created quite a Mormon sensation in 
that day. Perhaps in some respects he took the 
clearest view of Joseph yet given by any Gentile, — 



394 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

publishing him as the " Western Mohamet," the 
" Prophet of America," &c. As we have seen, the 
City Council of Nauvoo took cognizance of the 
journal in question, and Joseph conferred upon the 
talented writer the office of Inspector-General of the 
Nauvoo Legion. 

Here is the record of that memorable military 
review by " Lieutenant-General Joseph Smith," 
which has been so often illustrated and alluded to 
in America and abroad: 

" Saturday, 7th [April, 1842]. The Nauvoo Le- 
gion was on parade, by virtue of an order of the 
25th of January, 1842, and was reviewed by Lieu- 
tenant-General Joseph Smith, who commanded 
through the day. * * * The weather was very 
fine. * * * In the afternoon the Legion was 
separated into cohorts, and fought an animated 
sham battle. * * * At the close of the parade 
Gen. Smith delivered a most animating and appro- 
priate address, in which he remarked that his soul 
was never better satisfied than on this occasion." 

One of the interesting features of the day was the 
presence of Judge Douglas and several eminent 
lawyers, court having been adjourned for the pur- 
pose. But a somewhat startling view is also brought 
to light in the significant fact that Gen. John C. 
Bennett repeatedly requested the Prophet to take 
part in the sham battle, urging him, in one instance, 
•to command the first cohort in person, without his 
staff. Joseph, with the prophecy of his martyrdom 
now ever with him, seems to have taken the ex- 
treme significance of the case as the proper view. 
He says, under date of that day: 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 395 

" If General Bennett's true feelings towards me 
are not made manifest to the world in a very short 
time, then it may be possible that the gentle breath- 
ings of that Spirit, which whispered me on parade 
that there was mischief concealed in that sham bat- 
tle, were false. A short time will determine the 
point. Let John C. Bennett answer at the day of 
judgment — Why did you request me to command 
one of the cohorts, and also to take my position 
without my staff, during the sham battle on the 7th 
of May, 1842, where my life might have been the 
forfeit, and no man have known who did the deed?" 

Clearly Joseph felt that John C. Bennett was 
seeking to play the Judas to his chief. But on that 
occasion the cup passed from him, though, as he 
doubtless knew, it was but a postponement of the 
day of his inevitable sacrifice. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

TREACHERY AND INTRIGUE PROPHECY OF THE 

MOUNTAIN REFUGE LEGAL KIDNAPPING HID- 
ING FROM THE ENEMY CORRESPONDENCE 

CHARACTER GLIMPSES " BECAUSE I LIVE THEY 

SHALL LIVE ALSO." 

Perceiving the treacherous animus of John C. 
Bennett, Joseph took prompt and energetic mea- 
sures for his removal from office in the Legion. 
But he was no mean antagonist ; and by his subtle 
intriguing he so wrought upon the minds of the 
people round about Nauvoo as to cause serious ap- 
prehensions in the minds of many that it would 
result in an open conflict and a repetition of the 
horrors of Missouri. 

Seeking to avoid the calamity and, if possible, to 
inaugurate decisive measures for the maintenance of 
order, Joseph petitioned Gov. Carlin for permission 
to hold the Legion in readiness for any emergency 
that might arise. The Governor's reply was well 
, calculated to allay apprehension, he stating his be- 
lief in the improbability of any serious demonstra- 
tion against Nauvoo, and affirming that the excite- 
ment incident to Bennett's disaffection was not so* 
strong as to bias the opinion of the public at large. 
To this Joseph made generous and characteristic 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 397 

reply, saying : " I am perfectly satisfied with regard 
to the subject under consideration and with your 
remarks. I shall consider myself and our citizens 
secure from harm under the broad canopy of the 
law under your administration. We look to you 
for protection in the event of any violence being 
used towards us, knowing that our innocence with 
regard to all the accusations in circulation will be 
duly evidenced before ah enlightened public. Any 
service we can do the State at any time will be 
cheerfully done, for our ambition is to be servicea- 
ble to our country." 

But the toils of fate had begun to close around 
him, and though we shall see a brave defence, his 
way is henceforth to be hedged with perils, growing 
deeper and darker until the crisis and the sacrifice. 

On the 8th of August, 1842, he was arrested by 
the deputy sheriff of Adams Co., on a warrant issued 
by Gov. Carlin, founded on a requisition from Gov. 
Reynolds, of Missouri, upon the affidavit of Ex-Gov. 
Boggs, complaining of "the said Smith as being an 
accessory before the fact to an assault with an intent 
to kill, made by one O. P. Rockwell on Lilburn W. 
Boggs, on the night of the 6th of May, a.'D, 1842." 
Through an informality of procedure, Joseph for 
the time being escaped incarceration under this 
warrant. The City Council of Nauvoo also came 
to the rescue by passing an ordinance regulating 
the mode of proceeding in cases of habeas corpus 
before the municipal court. This was a well-timed 
and effective blow to illegal and unjust persecution 
under color of law, and Joseph's enemies have now 
no recourse but kidnapping. 



398 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Just at this time also occurred Joseph's first 
marked prophecy, on record, concerning the re- 
moval of the satnts to the Rocky Mountains. Says 
the record : 

"Saturday, 6th [August, 1842]. Passed over the 
river to Montrose, Iowa, in company with General 
Adams, Colonel Brewer, and others, and witnessed 
the installation of the officers of the Rising Sun 
Lodge of Ancient York Masons, at Montrose, by 
Gen. James Adams, Deputy Grand Master of Illi- 
nois. While the Deputy Grand Master was en- 
gaged in giving the requisite instructions to the 
Master elect I had a conversation with a number of 
brethren, in the shade of the building, on the sub- 
ject of our persecutions in Missouri, and the con- 
stant annoyance which has followed us since we 
were driven from that State. I prophesied that the 
saints would continue to suffer much affliction, and 
would be driven to the Rocky Mountains. Many 
would apostatize, others would be put to death by 
our persecutors, or lose their lives in consequence 
of exposure or disease, and some would live to go 
and assist in making settlements and building cities, 
and see the saints become a mighty people in the 
midst of the Rocky Mountains." 

The exodus is a great historic fact. It would do 
violence to history to expunge this record. The 
Twelve however, may have shaped the record thus 
to fit their own events. It is not even affirmed 
that Joseph gave such a revelation to the Church; 
but the historical landmark, pointing to the Rocky' 
Mountains, is this prophecy to his Masonic brethren, 
on the 6th of August, 1842, — just about five years 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. . 399 

before the feet of the pioneers emerged from the 
last mountain gorge into the beautiful valley of the 
Great Salt Lake. 

But the effort to legally kidnap the Prophet con- 
tinued, resulting in a corresponding effort, on the 
part of his friends, to shield him. And knowing 
the quality of Missouri justice, Joseph made par- 
donable effort to evade the officers, who seemed 
determined to drag him back to that State for 
slaughter. Says he : 

"Wednesday, 10th [August]. The deputy sheriff 
returned to Nauvoo, but I was absent, and he did 
not see me nor brother Rockwell. He endeavored 
to alarm my wife and the brethren with his threats 
if I was not forthcoming, but they understood the 
law in such cases, and his threats proved harmless." 

Then follows a circumstantial account of Joseph's 
consultation with friends, and final decision to evade 
the officers for the time being, which he did by de- 
parting in a skiff, at night, on the Mississippi River, 
to the friendly shelter of the farmhouse of Edward 
Sayers, where, on the 13th, he was joined by Emma, 
his wife. 

Although now safe in his retreat, as the days pass 
more and more does he feel that the final contro- 
versy is near which is either to give him temporary 
peace or hasten the exodus of his people to the 
Rocky Mountains. But chafing with the tedious- 
ness of his seclusion, and stung with a sense of the 
injustice manifested towards him, he turns, like a 
stag at bay, and issues the following order to his 
Major-General of the Legion, intrusting its delivery 
to Emma : 



4-00 life of joseph the prophet. 

Headquarters Nauvoo Legion, 
August 14th, 1842. 

Major-General Law. 

Dear General : — I take this opportunity to give 
you some instructions how I wish you to act in case 
our persecutors should carry their pursuits so far as 
to tread upon our rights as free-born American cit- 
izens. The orders which I am about to give you 
are the result of a long series of contemplations 
since I saw you. I have come fully to the conclu- 
sion, both since this last difficulty commenced, and 
before, that I would never suffer myself to go into 
the hands of the Missourians alive ; and to go into 
the hands of the officers of this State is nothing 
more nor less than to go into the hands of the Mis- 
sourians, for the whole farce has been gotten up 
unlawfully and unconstitutionally, as w r ell on the 
part of the Governor as others, by a mob spirit, for 
the purpose of carrying out mob violence, to carry 
on mob tolerance in a religious persecution. I am 
determined therefore to keep out of their hands and 
thwart their designs if possible, that perhaps they 
may not urge the necessity of force and blood 
against their own fellow-citizens and loyal subjects, 
and become ashamed and withdraw their pursuits. 
But if they should not do this, and shall urge the 
necessity of force, and if by any means I should be 
taken, these are therefore to command you forth- 
with, without delay, regardless of life or death, to 
rescue me out of their hands. And further, to treat 
them, any pretensions to the contrary, as unlawful 
and unconstitutional, and as a mob gotten up for 
the purpose of a religious persecution to take away 
the rights of men. 

"And further, that our chartered rights and priv-. 
ileges. shall be considered by us as holding the 
supremacy in the premises, and shall be maintained; 
nothing short of the Supreme Court cf this State 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 40I 

having authority to disannul them, and the munici 
pal court having jurisdiction in my case. You will 
see, therefore, that the peace of the city of Nauvoo 
is kept, let who will endeavor to disturb it. You 
will also see that, whenever any mob force or vio- 
lence is used on any citizen thereof, or that belong- 
eth thereunto, that force or violence is immediately 
dispersed or brought to punishment; or meet it and 
contest it, at the point of the sword, with firm, un- 
daunted and unyielding valor, and let them know 
that the spirit of old Seventy-Six and of George 
Washington yet lives, and is contained in the 
bosoms and blood of the children of the fathers 
thereof. If there are any threats in the city, let 
legal steps be taken, and let no man, woman or 
child be intimidated, nor suffer it to be done. * * 
You are therefore hereby authorized and com- 
manded, by virtue of the authority which I hold, 
and commission granted me by the Executive of 
this State, to maintain the very letter and spirit of 
the above to the very best of your ability, to the 
extent of our lives and our fortunes, and to the lives 
and fortunes of the Legion, as also all those who 
may volunteer their lives and fortunes with ours, 
for the defence of our wives and children, our fath- 
ers and our mothers, our homes, our graveyards and 
our tombs, and our dead and their tombstones, and 
our dear-bought American liberties, with the blood 
of our fathers, and all that is dear and sacred to 
men. " * * 

To this in due time was promptly returned Gen. 
Law's ringing- answer: 

* * I have also received from the hand of 
your lady your orders at length, respecting matters 
and things, and I am happy indeed to receive such 
orders from you, for your views on these subjects 

26 



402 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

are precisely my own. I do respond with my whole 
heart to every sentiment you have so nobly and so 
feelingly expressed, and while my heart beats, or 
this hand which now writes, is able to draw and 
wield a sword, you may depend on it being at your 
service in the glorious cause of liberty and truth, 
ready at a moment's warning to defend the rights 
of man, both civil and religious. Our common 
rights and peace is all we ask, and we will use every 
peaceable means in our power to enjoy them, but 
our rights we must have, peace we must have, if we 
have to fight for them." 

In the excitement of the days following, many 
came in trepidation to Joseph ; but his lofty courage 
and undaunted spirit was as a tower of strength to 
them. And his pen also was not idle. In a forcible 
communication to the Times and Seasons, entitled 
" Persecution," he recapitulated the terrors and out- 
rages of Missourian intolerance, and affirming that 
the renewed effort to get him under the jurisdiction 
of that State was but a transparent effort to judi- 
cially murder him, he justified his evasion of arrest. 

In his retreat he also formulated a plan of escape, 
which he communicated by letter to his wife Emma, 
then in Nauvoo. This was that himself, herself, and 
their children, should quietly depart together for 
the " Pine Country," so called, a region to the north- 
westward of Nauvoo, in the then Territory of Iowa, 
where, in seclusion and peace, they might await the 
subsidence of public clamor and excitement, against 
him. This purpose he also communicated to Gen. 
Law. From both of them he received intimation 
that the necessity for such an extreme measure did 
not exist; but Emma, nevertheless, affirmed her 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 4O3 

willingness to go if necessary, closing her letter 
with a declaration of unswerving faith and 
fidelity. 

Xor should the record of those days be consid- 
ered complete without a glance at the innermost 
feelings of the exiled Prophet, as laid bare in the 
following touching lines, excerpted from a lengthy 
diary note, under date of August 16th, 1842: 

a Blessed is brother Erastus H. Derby. * * * 
Let the light of eternal truth shine forth upon his 
understanding; let his name be had in everlasting 
remembrance; let the blessings of lehovah be 
crowned upon his posterity after him, for he ren- 
dered me consolation in the lonely places of my 
retreat. How good and glorious it has seemed 
unto me to find pure and holy friends who are faith- 
ful, just and true, and whose hearts fail not. * * 
How glorious were my feelings when I met that 
faithful and friendly band on the night of the nth. 
* * * What transports of joy swelled my bosom 
when I took by the hand, on that night, my beloved 
Emma, — she that was my wife, even the wife of my 
youth, and the choice of my heart. * * What a 
commingling" f thought filled my mind for the 
moment ! Again she is here, even in the seventh 
trouble, undaunted, firm and unwavering-, unchange- 
able, affectionate Emma. * * There was brother 
Hyrum, who next took me by the hand. * * * 
Thought I to myself, Brother Hyrum, what a faith- 
ful heart have you! O, may the Eternal Jehovah 
crown eternal blessings upon your head, as a reward 
for the care you have had for my soul ! * * * 
Said I to myself, Here is brother Xewel K, Whitney 



404 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

also. How many scenes of sorrow have strewn 
our paths together, and yet we meet once more to 
share again. * * How warm that heart! How 
anxious that soul for the welfare of one who has 
been cast out and hated of almost all men. * * 
My heart was overjoyed as I took the faithful, hand 
by hand, that stood upon the shore, — William Law, 
William Clayton, Dimick Huntington, George Miller 
were there. * * These I have met in prosperity, 
and they were my friends ; and I now meet them in 
adversity, and they are still my warmer friends. 
These love the God that I serve ; they love the 
truths that I promulgate , they love those virtues 
and holy doctrines that I cherish in my bosom with 
the warmest feelings of my heart, and with that zeal 
which cannot be denied. I love friendship and 
truth; I love virtue and law; I love the God of 
Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob ; and they are my 
brethren ; and I shall live ; and because I live they 
shall live also !" * * * 

What an outpouring of love and divine greatness 
is this ! And we are coming now in all the remain- 
ing phases of Joseph's life to this supreme manifes- 
tation of his character — his divine love for the 
brotherhood. In this there was never his equal, 
excepting Jesus, whose spirit dwelt in him. And, in 
his moments of spiritual exaltation, how Christlike 
were his words : H I love friendship and truth ; I 
love virtue and law ; I love the God # of Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob ; and they are my brethren ; and. 
I shall live ; and because I live they shall live 
also ! " 

The fact that to his own secret soul he dared 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 405 

such an utterance, goes far to prove his divine 
mission. What less was it than to say, " Because 
my Father hath given them eternal life, He will 
give eternal life unto me, and to these my breth- 
ren, His disciples." 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

APPEAL TO GOV. CARLIN JOSEPH'S REFLECTIONS AND 

DIARY JOTTINGS HE BOLDLY RETURNS TO NAU- 

VOO GOV. CARLIN SHOWS HIS HAND JOSEPH 

SUBMITS TO ARREST GLIMPSES OF DOCTRINE 

AND REVELATION FREEDOM AGAIN. 

In this emergency Emma wrote a touching appeal 
to Gov. Carlin, in behalf of her husband and the 
saints, in which she manifested no little skill as a 
logician and much pathos as an advocate. 

The Governor made courteous reply, but took a 
very inconsistent view of the situation, even advis- 
ing the Prophet to submit to arrest and take his 
chances of acquittal at the hands of Missouri justice. 
Knowing too well the inevitable outcome of such a 
proceeding, Joseph promptly decided to disregard 
the Governor's advice. 

In the meantime, the reflections of his solitude 
are penned in his diary, and from it we are enabled 
to get the deepest glimpses of his character. Who 
can doubt the sincerity of the man when brought 
face to face with such passages as the following, — . 
penned for no eye to see, — the very inmost of his 
soul laid bare : 

"O Thou, who seest and knoweth the hearts of 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 407 

all men ; thou eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, and 
omnipresent Jehovah — God — thou Eloheim, that 
sitteth, as saith the Psalmist, ' enthroned in heaven,' 
look down upon thy servant Joseph at this time, 
and let faith on the name of thy son Jesus Christ, to 
greater degree than thy servant ever yet has en- 
joyed, be conferred upon him, even the faith of 
Elijah ; and let the lamp of eternal life be lit up in 
his heart, never to be taken away; and let the words 
of eternal life be poured upon the soul of thy serv- 
ant, that he may know thy will, thy statutes, and 
thy commandments, and thy judgments, to do them " 

But though humble and suppliant in the presence 
of God, Joseph was truly fearless in the presence of 
men. At this very time (August 29th), on the 
occasion of a conference at Nauvoo, he suddenly 
appeared on the stand, to the surprise and delight 
of all present, and, among other things, gave the 
following specimen of his metal : 

" I don't want you to fight, but go and gather 
tens, hundreds, and thousands, to fight for you. If 
oppression comes I will then show them that there 
is a Moses and a Joshua amongst us." * * * 

But renewed efforts being made by the officers to 
arrest him, he again eluded them, remaining in the 
city, however, at the residence of Bishop Hunter. 
In the meantime the ladies of the Relief Society 
petitioned Governor Carlin in his behalf, but with 
no better effect than had previously been seen. 

Yet the spirit of his mission prevailed in Joseph, 
notwithstanding the distractions of the times, for at 
that moment he addressed to the church one of his 
great revelations, the principal subject of it being 



408 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

baptism for the dead and the mission of Elijah in 
the last days. 

Finally, Gov. Carlin resolved to show his hand, 
and on the 2d of October he proclaimed a reward of 
$200 for Joseph's arrest. This seems to have been 
part of a concerted plan, as the Governor of Mis- 
souri, at the same time, offered a reward of $300 for 
the same purpose. There is a vein of grim humor 
in Joseph's diary entry of the fact Says he : " It is 
not expected that much will be effected by the re- 
wards." 

Just at this time James Arlington Bennett inter- 
posed a characteristic letter in the New York 
Herald, sagaciously urging Joseph to execute his 
now well known purpose of the exodus. Manifest 
destiny was clearly pointing the saints westward, 
and daring spirits throughout the country already 
began seriously to contemplate the prospect of 
Joseph and his people pioneering the nation to the 
Pacific coast. And thus, though hedged about by 
enemies and trouble, Joseph was fast rising in the 
public mind to the position of an extraordinary per- 
sonage in the age. 

Thomas Ford having now [December, 1842] suc- 
ceeded Governor Carlin, Joseph sent to him a peti- 
tion requesting immunity from arrest under Carlin's 
proclamation. To this the Governor made answer 
as follows : 

Springfield, Dec. 17th, 1842. 

Dear Sir : — Your petition requesting me to re- 
scind Governor Carlin's proclamation and recall the 
writ issued against you, has been received and duly 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 409 

considered. I submitted your case and all the 
papers relating thereto to the Judges of the Su- 
preme Court, or at least to six of them, who hap- 
pened to be present. They were unanimous in the 
opinion that the requisition from Missouri was ille- 
gal and insufficient to cause your arrest, but were 
equally divided as to the propriety and justice of 
my interference with the acts of Governor Carlin. 
It being, therefore, a case of great doubt as to my 
power, and I not wishing, even in an official station, 
to assume the exercise of doubtful powers, and in- 
asmuch as you have a sure and effectual remedy in 
the courts, I have decided to decline interfering. I 
can only advise that you submit to the laws and 
have a judicial investigation of your rights. If it 
should become necessary for this purpose, to repair 
to Springfield, I do not believe that there will be 
any disposition to use illegal violence towards you ; 
and I would feel it my duty in your case, as in the 
case of any other person, to protect you with any 
necessary amount of force from mob violence whilst 
asserting your rights before the courts, going to and 



returning 



I am most respectfully yours, 

Thomas Ford. 

This being supported by a letter from Joseph's 
counsel, and also a note from Grand Master Adams, 
he resolved to offer no further obstacle to the 
officers of the law, and was accordingly arrested, 
under Governor Carlin's proclamation, by his friend 
Gen. Law. A writ of habeas corpits was at once 
applied for and duly obtained, whereupon Joseph 
journeyed to Springfield, where court was in session. 
There a new writ was issued by Governor Ford, 
and Joseph, finding bail, was released until the day 



4IO LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

set down by the court for a hearing in the case. 
There being little business pending, the trial was 
appointed for an early day. 

During his stay in Springfield, pending trial, the 
Prophet was visited by many ladies and gentlemen 
of distinction, and their conversations, mostly upon 
religious topics, called forth from him a number of 
doctrinal points, and opinions upon popular subjects. 
Among these it will be profitable to reproduce some 
of the more striking and peculiar. For instance, 
the following view concerning Christ's millennial 
reign, giving a decidedly different idea of that sub- 
ject from the one popularly entertained among theo- 
logians. Joseph says: 

" While in conversation at Judge Adams' during 
the evening [December 30th, '42], I said, Christ and 
the resurrected saints will reign over the earth dur- 
ing the thousand years. They will not probably 
dwell upon the earth, but will visit it when they 
please, or when it is necessary to govern it. There 
will be wicked men on the earth during the thou- 
sand years." * * * 

And this to a company of distinguished gentle- 
men, Sunday, January 1st, 1843, explaining tne nature 
of a prophet: 

" If any person should ask me if I were a prophet 
I should not deny it, as that would give me the lie, 
for, according to John, the testimony of Jesus is the 
spirit of prophecy; therefore, if I profess to be a 
witness or teacher, and have not the spirit of proph- 
ecy, which is the testimony of Jesus, I must be a 
false witness. But if I be a true teacher and wit- 
ness, I must possess the spirit of prophecy, and that 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 41 I 

constitutes a prophet. And any man who says he 
is a teacher or preacher of righteousness, and denies 
the spirit of prophecy, is a liar, and the truth is not 
in him; and by this key false teachers and imposters 
may be detected." 

And the following, concerning the negro, is almost 
an exact prophecy of what has since happened. It 
is the more noteworthy as showing Joseph's position 
on the subject of human rights, just twenty years 
before Lincoln issued his immortal edict of emanci- 
pation : 

" Had I anything to do with the negroes I would 
confine them by strict law to their own species, and 
put them on a national equalization? 

On the following Wednesday (January 4th) his 
case came on for trial, and as it involved a question 
of inter-State law, hinging upon the Constitution of 
the United States, no little interest was taken in 
the proceedings. It being, however, a mere ques- 
tion of law, to be judicially determined upon the 
facts, a decisiqn was reached without much delay, 
and on the following day the opinion of the court 
was formally given by Judge Pope. The opinion 
was able and exhaustive, and closed with the judg- 
ment and order that "said Joseph Smith be fully 
released and discharged." 

The Prophet is again emancipated. Justice, for 
once, has been done. But the awful will of heaven 
must be fulfilled. The martyr's testament must 
seal the dispensation. Doubt it or wonder at it as 
we please, this is the law; and Joseph's life and 
death are but another.wondrous proof of it. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

REJOICING AT THE PROPHET'S DELIVERANCE A 

GREAT SERMON SETTING UP THE KINGDOM 

THE ORACLES OF HEAVEN HIS SACRIFICE AGAIN 

FORETOLD. 

The year 1843 was thus fairly and auspiciously 
opened to the saints by Joseph's release from the 
long and malignant persecution under which he and 
they had suffered ; and their joy and gratitude found 
formal expression in a proclamation of thanksgiving, 
issued by the Twelve, under the hand of Brigham 
Young. 

Returning at once to the themes of his mission, 
Joseph, on the 226. and the Sunday following, 
preached one of his most famous sermons. From 
among its novel and striking utterances we cull the 
following: 

" Some say the kingdom of God was not set up 
until the day of Pentecost, and that John did not 
preach the baptism of repentance for the remission 
of sins ; but I say, in the name of the Lord, that the 
kingdom of God was set up on the earth from the 
days of Adam to the present time. 

" Whenever there has been a righteous man on 
earth unto whom God revealed his word, and gave 
power and authority to administer in his name, and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 413 

where there is a priest of God, a minister who has 
power and authority from God to administer in the 
ordinances of the gospel and officiate in the priest- 
hood of God, there is the kingdom of God ; and in 
consequence of rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ, 
and the prophets whom God hath sent, the judg- 
ments of God have rested upon people, cities and 
nations, in various ages of the world, which was the 
case with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which 
were destroyed for rejecting the prophets. 

"Now I will give my testimony. I care not for 
man. I speak boldly and faithfully, and with 
authority. How is it with the kingdom of God? 
Where did the kingdom of God begin ? Where 
there is no kingdom of God there is no salvation. 
What constitutes the kingdom of God ? Where 
there is a prophet, a priest, or a righteous man, unto 
whom God gives bis oracles, there is the kingdom 
of God. And where the oracles of God are not, 
there the kingdom of God is not. * * * 

''The plea of many in this day is, that we have 
no right to receive revelations ; but if we do not get 
revelations we do not have the oracles of God ; and 
if they have not the oracles of God they are not the 
people of God. But say you, what will become of 
the world, or of the various professors of religion 
who do not believe in revelation and the oracles of 
God as continued to his church in all ages of the 
world, when he has a people on earth ? I tell you, 
in the name of Jesus Christ, they will be damned ; 
and when you get into the eternal world you will 
find it is so : they cannot escape the damnation of 
hell. 



414 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

"As touching the gospel and baptism that John 
preached, I would say that John came preaching 
the gospel for the remission of sins. He had his 
authority from God, and the oracles of God were 
with him, and the kingdom of God for a season 
seemed to rest with John alone. * * 

"There is a difference between the kingdom of 
God and the fruits and blessings that flow from that 
kingdom, because there were more miracles, gifts, 
visions, healings, tongues, &c, in the days of Jesus 
Christ and his Apostles, and on the day of Pente- 
cost, than under John's administration. It does not 
prove by any means that John had not the kingdom 
of God any more than it would that a woman had 
not a milk-pan because she had not a pan of milk, 
for while the pan might be compared to the king- 
dom, the milk might be compared to the blessings 
of the kingdom. 

"John was a priest after the order of Aaron, and 
had the keys of that priesthood, and came forth 
preaching repentance and baptism for the remission 
of sins, but at the same time cries out, 'There 
cometh one after me more mighty than I, the latchet 
of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose.' And 
Christ came according to the words of John, and he 
was greater than John, because he held the keys of 
the Melchisedek priesthood and kingdom of God, 
and had before revealed the priesthood to Moses ; 
yet Christ was baptized by John to fulfill all right- 
eousness ; and Jesus in his teachings says, ' Upon 
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of 
hell shall not prevail against it.' What rock? 
Revelation ! * * * 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 415 

"John, at that time, was the only legal adminis- 
trator in the affairs of the kingdom there was then 
on the earth and holding the keys of power. The 
Jews had to obey his instructions or be damned by 
their own law, and Christ himself fulfilled all right- 
eousness in becoming obedient to the law which he 
had given to Moses on the Mount, and thereby 
magnified it and made it honorable, instead of de- 
stroying it. The son of Zachariah wrested the keys, 
the glory, the kingdom, the power from the Jews, 
by the holy anointing and decree of heaven. * * 

"I know what I say; I understand my mission ; 
* * God Almighty is my shield ; * ? I shall not 
be sacrificed until my time comes ; then I shall be 
offered freely!" 

The passages quoted are eminently suggestive. 
Notably this: "Where there is a prophet, a priest, 
or a righteous man, unto whom God gives his ora- 
cles, there is the kingdom of God ; and where the 
oracles of God are not, there the kingdom of God 
is not!" In fact, the very alpha and omega of Jo- 
seph's teachings to his disciples signified that it was 
present communion with heaven that constituted the 
kingdom of God, or the church of Christ. The 
oracles of heaven cannot be silent. They are given 
to earth that man may have speech with heaven. 
Does not Joseph's own history sufficiently illustrate 
this ? Joseph was the oracle of heaven, restored to 
earth ! Divine speech was in and through him ! 
When the heavens are silent there is no oracle; 
" and where the oracles of God are not, there the 
kingdom of God is not!" 

And mark, his example is Israel, not Christendom. 



41 6 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

The priesthood had continued from Aaron, but 
the oracles to the Jewish nation had been silent 
four hundred years, from Malachi to John the Bap- 
tist. Jehovah, through his ange) Gabriel, had 
spoken to individuals, as instance Zachariah, and 
Joseph, and Elizabeth, and Mary; but not to the 
nation, for not until John had he an oracle through 
which to speak. "Then," says Joseph, who so well 
understood what the living oracles meant, " the son of 
Zachariah wrested the keys, the kingdom, the power, 
the glory from the Jews, by the holy anointing and 
the decree of heaven." 

Nor should we neglect to emphasize his personal 
revealing, in the declaration concerning his own 
sacrifice. How exact the parallel : " My time is not 
yet come," says Jesus; " I shall not be sacrificed un- 
til my time comes," says Joseph, but "then I shall 
be offered freely / " 

This sermon is indeed worthy to live, both as a 
chapter of theology and as a revelation of the sig- 
nificant meaning of the living oracles, as touching 
the matter of God's kingdom on the earth. And its 
significance appeals not only to Gentile Christians, 
but to Israel of the latter days. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

JOSEPH SPURNS THE POLITICIANS HIS PROPHECY TO 

JUDGE DOUGLAS MISSOURI'S PERSISTENT MA- 
LEVOLENCE SPEECH AT NAUVOO A DRAMATIC 

INCIDENT AGAIN TRIUMPHANT. 

Quite a marked historical accompaniment of the 
sermon just mentioned is the following sharp letter 
to the politicians who courted Joseph's "balance of 
power : " 

Nauvoo, Jan. 23d, 1843. 
Editor of "Wasp."' 

Dear Sir: — I have of late had repeated solicita- 
tions to have something to do in relation to the 
political farce about dividing the county, but as my 
ideas revolt at the idea of having anything to do 
with politics, I have declined, in every instance, 
having anything to do on the subject. I think it 
would be well for politicians to regulate their own 
affairs. I wish to be let alone, that I may attend 
strictly to the spiritual welfare of the church. 

Please insert the above, and oblige 

Joseph Smith. 

Nothing of special historical interest occurred to 
the saints during the first half of 1843, though it 
should be understood that Nauvoo was growing 

27 



41 8 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

rapidly, the elders going on missions and returning, 
while the work in Great Britain flourished greatly. 
On the 1 8th of May, however, occurred the famous 
prophecy of Joseph to Judge Douglas, which is cer- 
tainly worthy of record. The occasion was an after 
dinner talk with Judge Douglas, at Carthage, at 
which the Judge warmly seconded some remarks by 
Joseph concerning the treatment of the saints by 
Missouri. Turning to him he said, impressively : 
"Judge, you will aspire to the Presidency of the 
United States, and if you ever turn your hand 
against me or the Latter-day Saints, you will feel 
the weight of the hand of the Almighty upon you, 
and you will live to see and know that I have testi- 
fied the truth to you ; for the conversation of this 
day will stick to you through life." 

Of this, Dr. Robert D. Foster states that it was 
in his presence, and gives it thus: 

"That Stephen A. Douglas was a giant in intel- 
lect, but a dwarf in stature; that he would yet run 
for President of the United States, but that he 
would never reach that station ; that he would 
occupy a conspicuous place in the counsels of the 
nation and have multitudes of admiring friends, 
and that in his place he would introduce and carry 
out some of the most gigantic measures in the his- 
tory of the nation. This was said when Douglas 
was judge in that district of Illinois, and before he 
ever went to Congress. Has it not been fulfilled? 
Did he not rule in and through the State of Illinois, 
work and carry out its destiny for twenty consecu- 
tive years, more than any and all other men togeth- 
er ? Was he not always one of the greatest men 
in the Senate ?" 

It is but just, however, to state that during the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 419 

lifetime of Joseph, Douglas was true to his cove- 
nant. 

But Missouri's persistent malevolence again man- 
ifested itself, and a fresh warrant was issued for the 
purpose of arresting the Prophet and dragging him 
before the courts of that State. 

This warrant was served, and the arrest made in 
a most brutal and hasty manner, while Joseph was 
unprotected and alone with his family on a visit to 
his sister-in-law, near Dixon, in Lee County, and he 
was hurried away without a moment's respite, with 
the evident intent on the part of the officers to get 
him out of the State before the machinery of the 
law could be put in motion to release him. They 
were compelled to halt at Dixon, however, where 
the indignation of the citizens was aroused by their 
brutal conduct. Prompt measures were also insti- 
tuted by his friends* and a writ of habeas corpus 
was quickly procured. 

In the meantime the brethren at Nauvoo were 
not inactive. The news of Joseph's forcible abduc- 
tion soon reached their ears. A company of 175 
horsemen, under command of Generals Law and 
Rich, started the same evening in pursuit, with 
Apostle Woodruff's blessing on their heads and a 
barrel of gunpowder in their flasks, which he had 
donated for the expedition. It is unnecessary to 
add that although this company lost no time in 
overhauling the officers, they were not needed in 
the case, as the Prophet was already under the shel- 
tering arm of the law. Owing to the absence of the 
nearest judge before whom the writ of habeas corpus 
could be returned, a journey to Quincy, 250 miles 



420 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

distant, was determined upon. On the journey the 
purpose of the officers to forcibly abduct their 
prisoner was fully betrayed, but the brethren took 
good care that their purpose should be defeated. 
Finding that writs of habeas corpus could be heard 
and determined at Nauvoo, the officer in charge 
decided to proceed thither, instead of to Quincy, 
which point (Nauvoo) the party, after a fatiguing 
journey, reached on the 30th, being met on the out- 
skirts of the town by a concourse of citizens, a band 
of music, &c, and escorted to the Prophet's home 
amid cheers of welcome and salvos of artillery. 

At five o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, 
Joseph met "the boys" in the grove by appoint- 
ment, and delivered a touching speech : 

'• I thank God that I have the honor to lead so 
virtuous and honest a people; to be your leader 
and lawyer, as was Moses to the children of Israel. 
Hosannah to Almighty God, who has delivered us 
thus from out of the seven troubles. I commend 
you to his grace, and may the blessings of heaven 
rest upon you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen." 

On Saturday, July 1st, the municipal court of 
Nauvoo met for the purpose of adjudicating the 
question of Joseph's delivery to the agent of Mis- 
souri, the question turning on the establishment or 
non-establishment of the charge of treason, pre- 
ferred against him by that State through its Exe- 
cutive. Hyrum Smith, Parley P. Pratt, Brigham 
Young, Geo. W. Pitkin, Lyman Wight and Sidney 
Rigdon, were examined as witnesses in the case. 
Their testimony was unanimous as to the law- 
abiding and untreasonable character of the prisoner, 



• 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 42T 

and also embodied a voluminous and circumstantial 
history of the. Missouri difficulties, all tending to 
show that the prisoner was entitled to his discharge 
on the merits of the case. The finding of the court 
W-is then duly pronounced, and Joseph was once 
more free from the toils of his enemies. 

A deputation of Pottawatamie chiefs having been 
in waiting several days to see the Prophet, he 
hastened to meet them, at the first practical mo- 
ment after the trial, when the following remarkable 
interview took place : 

The orator of the delegation being assured that 
all present were Joseph's friends, and that he might 
therefore speak confidentially, arose and, through 
the interpreter, said : " We as a people have long 
been distressed and oppressed. We have been 
driven from our lands many times. We have been 
wasted away by wars, until there are but few of us 
left. The white man has hated us and shed our 
blood, until it has appeared as though there would 
soon be no Indian left. We have talked with the 
Great Spirit, and the Great Spirit has talked with 
us. We have asked the Great Spirit to save us and 
let us live, and the Great Spirit has told us that he 
had raised up a great prophet, chief, and friend, who 
would do us great good and tell us what to do ; and 
the Great Spirit has told us that you are the man 
(pointing to Joseph). We have now come a great 
way to see you and hear your words, and to have 
you tell us what to do. Our horses have become 
poor, traveling, and we are hungry. We will now 
wait and hear your words." 

Joseph was affected to tears. He arose and said: 



422 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" I have heard your words. They are true. The 
Great Spirit has told you the truth. I am your 
friend and brother, and I wish to do you good* 
Your fathers were once a great people. They 
worshiped the Great Spirit. The Great Spirit did 
them good. He was their friend, but they left the 
Great Spirit, and would not hear his words nor 
keep them. The Great Spirit left them, and they 
began to kill one another, and they have been poor 
and afflicted until now. 

" The Great Spirit has given me a book, and told 
me that you will soon be blessed again. The Great 
Spirit will soon begin to talk with you and your 
children. This is the book which your fathers 
made. I wrote upon it (showing them the Book of 
Mormon). This tells me what you will have to do. 
I now want you to begin to pray to the Great 
Spirit. I want you to make peace with one another, 
and do not kill any more Indians: it is not good. 
Do not kill white men ; it is not good ; but ask the 
Great Spirit for what you want. And it will not be 
long before the Great Spirit will bless you, and you 
will cultivate the earth, and build good houses like 
white men. We will give you something to eat and 
to take home with you." 

At the close of the interview Joseph had an ox 
killed for them, and they were furnished with some 
more horses, and went home satisfied and contented. 

It may be parenthetically remarked that this deed 
of kindness was indeed like "bread cast upon the 
waters," for in the dark days of the exodus the saints ' 
found welcome and rest for a season under the guar- 
dianship and shejter of the friendly Pottawatamies. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 423 

On Monday, July 3d, a special conference was 
called, when some eighty or more of the elders were 
chosen to go among the citizens of the various 
counties of Illinois, for the purpose of disabusing 
the public mind as to the attitude of the saints with 
regard to the laws of the land. 

At a grove meeting, on Sunday, the 8th, Joseph 
addressed the saints, among other things of doctrine 
and precept pronouncing the following golden sen- 
timents : 

" The saints can testify whether I am willing to 
lay down my life for my brethren. If it has been 
demonstrated that I have been willing to die for a 
' Mormon/ I am bold to declare before heaven that 
I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of 
a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any 
other denomination ; for the same principle which 
would trample on the rights of the Latter-day 
Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman 
Catholics, or of any other denomination that may 
be unpopular and too weak to defend itself. 

u It is a love of liberty which inspires my soul — 
civil and religious liberty to the whole of the human 
race. Love of liberty was diffused into my soul by 
my grandfathers while they dandled me on their 
knees. * * * 

" One of the grand fundamental principles of 
' Mormonism ' is to receive truth, let it come whence 
it may. * * * 

" If I esteem mankind to be in error, shall I bear 
them down ? No. I will lift them up, and in their 
own way, too, if I cannot persuade them my way is 
better; and I will not seek to compel any man to 



424 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

believe as I do, only by the force of reasoning, for 
truth will cut its own way." 

And from his sermon of the following Sabbath 
we excerpt this gem: 

M Let me be resurrected with the saints, whether 
I ascend to heaven, or descend to hell, or go to any 
other place. And if we go to hell, we will turn the 
devils out of doors and make a heaven of it. Where 
this people are, there is good society. What do we 
care where we are, if the society be good ?" 

But the Missourians, loth to abandon their pur- 
pose against the life of the Prophet, took the ground 
that the action of the authorities at Nauvoo was in 
the nature of a rescue of a prisoner from lawful 
authority, and that he should be delivered into their 
hands the same as though such action had not been 
taken. Taking this view of the case, and knowing 
that the citizens of Nauvoo would resist any further 
attempt to arrest Joseph, Gov. Reynolds, of Mis- 
souri, applied to the Governor of Illinois, requesting 
him to call out a militia force and compel Nauvoo 
to deliver him up. This Gov. Ford politely but 
promptly refused to do. And thus, for the time, 
Joseph completely won the issue. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE ELEMENTS OF JOSEPH'S DOOM — ANTI-MORMON 

DEMONSTRATION'S MISSOURI PROPOSES TO IN- 
VADE ILLINOIS GOV. FORD RESISTS FAMOUS 

CORRESPONDENCE APPEALS TO CONGRESS AND 

HIS NATIVE STATE. 

Aside from the natural and inevitable opposition 
that seems to spontaneously hedge the path of every 
affirmative movement, there were in M Mormonism " 
so many points of marked divergence from the gen- 
erally recognized landmarks of orthodoxy, that to 
the dispassionate historian, grasping the entire sit- 
uation, little wonder appears in the fierce persecu- 
tion which it met. Its fundamental assertion of 
renewed communication with heaven was as startling 
as it was innovative, and its bold affirmation that 
each and every of the churches were in apostasy, 
was infinitely offensive to their self-pride. Of course, 
in the same proportion that the interest of the new 
movement centred in its chief personage, the animus 
of the opposition also focalized upon him ; hence 
the fierce malignity that sought his life. Like Christ 
before, Joseph was emphatically an innovater and 
iconoclast ; indeed, he was the iconoclast of fifty 
years ago — Jehovah's thunderbolt against the priest- 
craft of his day. 



426 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

But with, and out of, the rapidly increasing nu- 
merical strength of the saints, developed another 
element of danger, namely, their political power. 
Here their very unity and brotherhood — so emphat- 
ically elements of strength in other regards — were 
actually elements of peril. Voting as a unit, they 
held the balance of power in Illinois, and their solid 
front became at once a conspicuous target for the 
malignant shafts of the defeated politicians. 

Thus did their peril broaden from a simply re- 
ligious opposition into the fierce and unscrupulous 
enmity of a religious and political coalition. The 
Anti-Mormon sentiment at once began to take 
organic, and consequently formidable, shape. On 
Saturday, August 19th, just following the State 
election, in which the Democratic party had won 
the day by aid of the " Mormon " vote, the first of 
a series of Anti-Mormon meetings was held at 
Carthage. The ball, once in motion, gathered 
force and strength, being quickly reinforced by 
meetings elsewhere, all skilfully manipulated and 
organized, and from which was launched the stand- 
ard Anti-Mormon venom of the day, in the disguise 
of the conventional " whereas" and the solemn "re- 
solved." 

Rumors also grew rife and anxiety-provoking, to 
the effect that the Missourians were about to organ- 
ize a military force for the purpose of making a dash 
into Illinois and capturing the Prophet by force of 
arms. But Governor Ford being applied to in the 
matter, made no uncertain reply, saying: " I will 
consider it my duty to prevent the invasion of this 
State, if in my power, by any persons elsewhere for 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 427 

any hostile purposes whatever." But for the Gov- 
ernor's prompt espousal of the cause of law and 
order on this occasion, it is not unlikely that the 
attempt would have been made, so heated and ma- 
levolent was the popular feeling in Missouri. 

In the meantime the shadows of fate gather 
thicker and thicker around him, and again he is 
heard prophesying his death. But as though col- 
ored by the robust strength of his own nature, the 
prophecy is couched in defiant language : " I defy 
all the world to destroy the work of God ; and I 
prophesy they never will have power to kill me till 
my work is accomplished and I am ready to die." 

And on the same occasion he said : " I proclaim, 
in the name of the Lord God Almighty, that I will 
fellowship nothing in the church but virtue, integ- 
rity, and uprightness." 

For what, then, was this generation about to 
crucify him ? Let the examples of the past make 
answer ! 

Ever thoughtful for the welfare of his people, and 
letting no opportunity pass in which he perceived a 
promise of benefit to them, we next find him inter- 
rogating the several Presidential aspirants of that 
year, as follows : 

Nauvoo, III., Nov. 4, 1843. 



Dear Sir." — As we understand you are a candi- 
date for the Presidency at the next election, and as 
the Latter-day Saints (sometimes called " Mor- 
mons," who now constitute a numerous class in the 
school politic of this vast Republic) have been 
robbed of an immense amount of property, and 



428 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET 

endured nameless sufferings, by the State of Mis- 
souri, and from her borders have been driven by- 
force of arms, contrary to our national covenants ; 
and as in vain we have sought redress by all consti- 
tutional, legal, and honorable means, in her courts, 
her executive councils, and her legislative halls ; and 
as we have petitioned Congress to take cognizance 
of our sufferings, without effect, we have judged it 
wisdom to address you this communication, and 
solicit an immediate, specific, and candid reply to, 
" What will be your rule of action relative to us as 
a people," should fortune favor your ascension to 
the Chief Magistracy? 

" Most respectfully, sir, your friend, and the friend 
of peace, good order, and constitutional rights, 

Joseph Smith. 

In behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- 
day Saints. 



A copy of the above was sent to John C. Cal- 
houn, Lewis Cass, Richard M. Johnson, Henry Clay, 
and Martin Van Buren, the replies to which will 
appear hereafter. 

At about this time also occurred a somewhat re- 
markable interchange of views, by letter, between 
James Arlington Bennett and the Prophet. An 
abstract of each is worthy of preservation. Mr. 
Bennett said he had had a most interesting visit 
from President Brigham Young, with whom he had 
had a glorious frolic in the clear blue ocean. This 
fact had left a very genial impression on his mind, 
but, said he, " Nothing of this kind would in the 
least attach me to your person or cause. I am 
capable of being a most undeviating friend, without 
being governed by the smallest religious influence. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 429 

* * * But my mind is of so mathematical and 
philosophical a cast, that the divinity of Moses 
makes no impression on me, and you will not be 
offended when I say that I rate you higher as a 
legislator than I do Moses, because we have you 
present with us for examination, whereas Moses de- 
rives his chief authority from prescription and the 
lapse of time. I cannot, however, say but you are 
both right, it being out of the power of man to 
prove you wrong. It is no mathematical problem, 
and can therefore get no mathematical solution. 
I say, therefore, Go ahead : you have my good 
wishes. You know Mahomet had his 'right hand 
man ! ' " 

The letter closes with an intimation that the 
writer may settle in Illinois, and may run for Gov- 
ernor, and therefore his friendliness for the saints 
must be kept secret, to the mutual advantage of all 
concerned. 

I.n his answer Joseph says: "How far you are 
capable of being ' a most undeviating friend, with- 
out being governed by the smallest religious influ- 
ence,' will best be decided by your survivors. * * 
Without controversy, that friendship which intelli- 
gent beings would accept as sincere, must arise 
from love, and that love grow out of virtue, which is 
as much a part of religion as light is a part of Je- 
hovah. Hence the saying of Jesus, 'Greater love 
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life 
for a friend.' * * * 

"Your good wishes to ' go ahead,' coupled with 
Mahomet and a ' right hand man,' are rather more 
vain than virtuous. Why, sir, Caesar had his right 



430 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

hand Brutus, who was his ' left hand ' assassin, — not, 
however, applying the allusion to you. * * * 

"The summit of your future fame seems to be 
hid in the political policy of a ' mathematical prob- 
lem ' for the Chief Magistracy of this State, which I 
suppose might be solved by 'double position,' 
where the errors of the proposition are used to 
produce a true answer. 

" But, sir, when I leave the dignity and honor I 
received from heaven, to boost a man into power 
through the aid of my friends, where the evil and 
designing, after the object has been accomplished, 
can lock up the clemency intended as a reciproca- 
tion for such favors, and where the wicked and un- 
principled, as a matter of course, would seize the 
opportunity to nintify the hearts of the nation 
against me for dabbling at a sly game in politics — 
verily I say, when I leave the dignity and honor of 
heaven, to gratify the ambition and vanity of man, 
or men, may my power cease, like the strength of 
Samson when he was shorn of his locks while asleep 
in the lap of Delilah. * * * 

" Shall I, who have witnessed the visions of eter- 
nity, and beheld the glorious mansions of bliss, and 
the regions and the misery of the damned, — shall I 
turn to be a Judas? Shall I, who have heard the 
voice of God, and communed with angels, and spake 
as moved by the Holy Ghost for the renewal of the 
Everlasting Covenant, and for the gathering of 
Israel in the last days, — shall I worm myself into a 
political hypocrite? Shall I, who hold the keys of 
the last kingdom, in which is the dispensation of the 
fullness of all things spoken by the mouths of all 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 43 1 

the Holy Prophets since the world began, under the 
sealing power of the Melchisedek Priesthood, — shall 
I stoop from the sublime authority of Almighty 
God, to be handled as a monkey's cats-paw, and 
pettify myself into a clown, to act the farce of polit- 
ical demagoguery? No; verily no! The whole 
earth shall bear me witness that I, like the towering 
rock in the midst of the ocean, which has withstood 
the mighty surges of the mighty waves for centuries, 
am impregnable, and am a faithful friend to virtue, 
and a fearless foe to vice,— no odds whether the 
former was sold as a pearl in Asia, or hid as a gem 
in America, and the latter dazzles in palaces, or 
glimmers among the tombs. 

" I combat the errors of ages ; I meet the vio- 
lence of mobs ; I cope with illegal proceedings from 
executive authority; I cut the Gordian knot of 
powers, and I solve mathematical problems of uni- 
versities with truth — diamond truth; and God is my 
1 right hand man.'" * * * 

The tide of popular clamor had by this time set 
in so strongly that some counter action was clearly 
necessary. Accordingly the city of Nauvoo peti- 
tioned Congress upon the matter at issue, and 
Joseph addressed a powerful appeal to the " Green 
Mountain Boys" of his native Vermont, which was, 
however, quite as applicable to the entire country. 
As a sample of this stirring plea, we excerpt me fol- 
lowing: 

" I make this appeal to the sons of liberty of my 
native State for help to frustrate the wicked de- 
signs of sinful men. I make it to hush the violence 



43 2 LIF E OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

of mobs. I make it to cope with the unhallowed 
influence of wicked men in high places. I make it 
to resent the insult and injury made to an innocent, 
unoffending people by a lawless ruffian State. I 
make it to obtain justice where law is put at de- 
fiance. I make it to wipe off the stain of blood 
from our nation's escutcheon. I make it to show 
presidents, governors and rulers prudence. I make 
it to fill honorable men with discretion. I make it 
to teach senators wisdom. I make it to learn judges . 
justice. I make it to point clergymen to the path 
of virtue. And I make it to turn the hearts of this 
nation to the truth and realities of pure and unde- 
fined religion, that they may escape the perdition of 
ungodly men ; and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is 
my Great Counselor." 

The year being now near its close, Joseph, in re- 
flecting upon its events, thus summarizes : " I have 
already had thirty-eight vexatious law suits, and 
have paid Missouri $150,000 for land." 



CHAPTER XL. 

THE GOD OF THE SAINTS. 

Turning from the merely historical thread, let us 
listen to the Prophet Joseph's further revealings of 
the God of the Saints, opening from the Book of 
Mormon. In the Book of Mosiah may be read what 
King Benjamin told his people when he gathered 
them by proclamation to the temple to hear his 
words. He said: 

"Behold I have things to tell ?ou concerning that -which is to come; and the 
things which I shall tell you are made known unto me, by an angel from G-od. 
And he said unto me, Awake; and I awoke, aud behold he stood before me. 
And he said unto me, awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee ; for behold, 
I have come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy. For the Lord hath 
heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy righteousness, and hath sent me to 
declare unto thee that thou may est rejoice; and that thou mayest declare unto 
thy people, that they may also be filled with joy. For behold, the time cometh, 
and is not far distant, that with power the Lord omnipotent who reigneth, who 
was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven, among 
the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth 
amongst men. working mighty miracles. * * And he shall be called Jesus 
Christ, the Son of GTod, the Father of heaven aud earth, the Creator of all things, 
from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary. And lo, he cometh 
unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men, even through 
faith on his name; and even after all this, they shall consider him a man, and say 
that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him. And he shall 
rise the third day from the dead; and behold, he standeth to judge the world; and 
behold all these things are done, that a righteous judgment might come upon the 
children of men. * * And moreover, I say unto you, that there is no other 
name given, nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the 
children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent; 
* * and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent. * * 
Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding 
in good works, that Christ, the Lord G-od Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you 
may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal 
life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him, who created all 
things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen." — Book of Mormon, 
Mosiah 1:13, 14; 3:3. 

Taking the Book of Mormon for a guide none 
need be in the dark as to who Jesus, our Savior was. 
It is the very reverse of that Unitarian and tran- 

28 



434 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

scendental revealing of Christ so like the modern 
intellect. Here is another flash of ancient light 
from Mosiah: 

"And a prophet of the Lord have they slain; yea a chosen man of G-od, who 
told them of their wickedness and abominations, and prophesied of many things 
which are to come, yea even the coming of Christ. And because he said unto 
them, that Christ was tlie G-od, the Father of all things, and said that he should 
take upon him the image of man, and it should be the image after which man was 
created in the beginning; or in other words, he said that man was created after 
the image of God, and that God should come down among the children of men, 
and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face of the earth; and 
now, because he said this they did put him to death." — Book of Mormon, Mosiah 
5:7. 

Here is another passage from Mosiah : 

"The time shall come when it shall no more be expedient to keep the law of 
Moses. And moreover, I say unto you, that salvation doth not come by the law 
alone; and were it not for the atonement which God himself shall make for the 
sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish notwithstand- 
ing the law of Moses. * * For behold, did not Moses prophesy unto them 
concerning the coming of Messiah, and that God should redeem his people; yea, 
and even all the prophets who have prophesied ever since the world began? 
Have they not said that God himself should come down among the children of 
men, and take upon him the form of man, and go forth in mighty power upon the 
face of the earth? Yea, and have they not said also, that he should bring to pass 
the resurrection of the dead, and that he, himself, should be oppressed and afflicted. 
* * And now Abinadi said unto them, I would that ye should understand that 
God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his 
people; and because he dwelleth in flesh, he shall be called the Son of God; and 
having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the 
Son; the Father, because he [the Son] was conceived by the power of God; and 
the Son because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and the Son; and they 
are one God, yea the very eternal Father of heaven and of earth; and thus the 
flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God, 
suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to 
be mocked and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people. And after 
all this, after working many mighty miracles am^ng the children of men, he shall 
be led, yea, even as Isaiah said, as a sheep be:ore the shearer is dumb, so he 
opened not his mouth; yea, even so he shall be led, crucified and slain, the flesh 
becoming subject, even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in 
the will of the Father; and thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained 
the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children 
of men. * * Thus all mankind were lost; and behold they would have been 
endlessly lost, were it not that God redeemed his people from their lost and fallen 
state. * * And now had ye not ought to tremble and repent of your sins, and 
remember only in and through Christ ye can be saved? Therefore, if ye teach 
the law of Moses, also teach that it is a shadow of those things which are to 
come; teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the 
very eternal Father.'' — Book of Mormon, Mosiah 8:1, 2, 5, 8, 9. 

Among the converts of the Prophet Abinadi was 
a Nephite whose name was Alma, He afterwards 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 435 

became the Great High Priest of his people and he 
founded among them the "Church of Christ" by 
the command of the Lord himself, who thus reveals 
himself to Alma: 

"Thou art my servant; and I covenant with thee, fchat thou shalt have eternal 
life; and thou shall serve me and go forth in my name, and shall gather together 
my sheep. And he that will hear my voice shall be my sheep; and him shall 
ye receive into the church, and him will I also receive. For behold, this is my 
church; whosoever is baptized, shall be baptized unto repentance. And whoso- 
ever ye receive shall believe in my name, and him will I freely forgive; for it is 
I that taketh upon me the sins of the world; for it is I tliat hath created them; 
and it is [ that granteth unto him that believeth, in the end, a place at my right 
hand. For behold, in my name are they called; and if they know me they shall 
come forth, and shall have place eternally at my right hand. And it shall come 
to pass when the second trump shall sound, then shall they that never knew me 
come forth and shall stand before me; and then shall they know that I am the 
Lord their G-od, that I am their Redeemer; but they would not be redeemed. 1 ' — 
Book of Mormon, Mosiah 11: 15, 16. 

But the son of Alma was for awhile like Paul, a 
persecutor of the followers of Christ. His case 
will afford an example of the conversion of a sinner 
among the ancient Nephites and his testimony that 
Christ is God : 

"I have repented of my sins, arid have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I 
am born of the Spirit. And the Lord said unto me, marvel not that all mankind, 
yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born 
again; yea, born of G-od, changed from their carnal and fallen state to a state of 
righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; and 
thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in no wise 
inherit the kingdom of God. * * I was in the darkest abyss; but now I 
behold the marvelous light of God. * * I rejected my Redeemer, and denied 
that which had been spoken of by our fathers; but now that they may foresee 
and that he will come, and that he remembereth every creature of his creating, 
he will make himself manifest unto all; yea, every knee shall bow, and every 
tongue confess before him. Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand 
to be judged of him. then shall they confess that he is God. 11 — Book of Mormon, 
Mosiah 11:22. 

The following sacred story concerning the Pro- 
phet Amulek and Zeezrom, a persecutor, is beauti- 
fully illustrative : 

K And Amulek said, Tea, there is a true and living God. Now Zeezrom said, 
Is there more than one God? And he answereth, No. Now Zeezrom said unto 
him again, How knowest thou these things? And he said, An angel hath made 
them known unto me. And Zeezrom said again, Who is he that shall come? Is 
it the Son of God? And he said unto him, Yea. * * Now Zeezrom said unto the 
people, See that ye remember these things; for he said there is but one God; yet 



436 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

he saith that the Son of God shall come. * * Now Zeezrom saith again unto 
him, Is the Son of G-od the very eternal Father? And Amulek said unto him, 
Yea, he is the very eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all things which in 
them is; he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last; and he shall come 
into the world to redeem his people; and he sliall take upon him the transgres- 
sions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal 
life, and salvation cometh to none else; therefore the wicked remain as though 
there had been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of 
death, for behold the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before 
G-od, and be judged according to their works. * * Now this restoration shall 
come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both 
the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of 
their heads be lost: but all things shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is 
now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of 
Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one eternal 
God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether 
they be evil. 1 ' — Book of Mormon, Alma 8 : 9, 10. 

Thus the Nephite Prophets taught and prophe- 
sied of Messiah to the time of his coming, but the 
following is from a Lamanite Prophet : 

"And now it came to pass that Samuel, the Lamanite, did prophesy a great 
many more things which cannot be written. And behold, he said unto them, 
behold, I give unto you a si^ru; for five years more cometh, and behold then 
cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name. And 
behold this will I give uuto you for a sign at the time of his comiug; for behold 
there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that the night before he cometh 
there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear uuto man as if it was 
day, therefore there shall be one day and a night, as if it were one day, and there 
were no Bight; and this shall be unto you for a sign; * * and it shah be 
the ni°:ht before he is born; * * and also that ye might know of the coming of 
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, th j Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of 
all things, from the beginning; and that ye might know of the signs of his coming, 
to the intent that ye might believe on his name. 1 ' — Book of Mormon, Helaman 
5 : 5, 6. 

Five years passed away and the glorious night 
came. The theme continues in the person of the 
Prophet Nephi thus: 

"And it came to pass that he (Nephi) cried mightily unto the Lord, all the day; 
and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, Lift up your head and 
be of good cheer, for behold, the time is at hand, and on this ni«;ht shall the sign 
be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to shew unto the world that 
I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy 
prophets Behold, I come unto my own, to fulfill all tliirgs which I have made 
known unto the children of men, from the foundation of the world, and do the 
will, both of the Father, and of the Son; — of the Father, because of me, and of Oie 
Son, because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall 
the sign be given. 11 — Book of Mormon, Nephi 1 : 3. 

Jesus came into the world through the chosen 
line of Judah; but after his resurrection, as record- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 437 

ed in other chapters, he appeared unto the Nephites 
and tarried with them awhile. Hear his proclam- 
ation and expounding of the mystery of the God- 
head in himself: 

'•Behold I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the 
earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. 
I am in the Father, and the Father in me; aud in me hath the Father glorified 
his name. * * Behold by me redemption cometh, and in me is the law of 
Moses fulfilled. I am the light and life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, 
the beginning and the end. And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding 
of blood ; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I 
will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings ; and ye shall offer 
for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart aud a contrite spirit. * * And it came to 
pass that the Lord spake unto them saying, Arise and come forth unto me, that ye 
mav thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the 
nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that / am the God of Israel, 
and the G-od of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. 
* * Behold 7" am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my 
people Israel; therefore the law in me is fulfilled, for I have come to fulfill the 
law; therefore it hath an end * * Behold the covenant which I made with 
my people is not all fulfilled; but the law which was given unto Moses hath an 
end in me. Behold, I am the law, and the light. * * I am even as the Father, and 
the Father and I are one; and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and 
me."— Book of Mormon, Nephi 4:8; 5:6; 7:1; 13:3. 

And thus from the beginning to the end was the 
Christ and the mystery of the Godhead revealed to 
the ancients of America. Moroni, the last of the 
Nephite Prophets wrote of Christ: 

u Behold I will shew unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, 
and the God of Isaac, and the G-od of Jacob; and it is the same God who created 
the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. Behold, he created 
Adam; and by Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man, 
came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son: and because 'of Jesus Christ 
came the redemption of man. 1 ' — Book of Mormon 4 : 6. 

Come we down now from the ancients of this 
continent to the revelation of jesus Christ to his 
Latter-Day Church. '-Behold I am God" is the an- 
nunciation of Jesus to this age in his own personal 
revealing to the Prophet Joseph. The following 
brief compendium of passages from the ''Doctrine 
and Covenants" will sufficiently illustrate what 
Jesus Christ is to his Church: 



438 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 



"Behold I am Jesus Christ the Son of the living God, who created the heavens 
and the earth. * * I am the Alpha and Omega. Christ the Lord; yea 
even I am He, the beginning and the end, the Redeemer of the world. I have 
accomplished and finished the will of him whose I am, even the Father concern- 
ing me; having done this that I might subdue all things unto myself; retaining 
all power, even to the destroying of Satan and his works at the end of the world, 
and the last great day of judgment, which I shall pass upon the inhabitants thereof, 
judging every man according to his works, and the deeds which he hath done. 
And surely every man must repent or suffer, for 1 God am endless; wherefore, I 
revoke not the judgments which I shall pass. * * Tims saith the Lord your 
God, even Jesus Christ the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and 
the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the 
seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made; the same which knoweth 
all things, for ail things are present before my eyes : I am the same which spake 
and the world was made, and all things came by me; I am the same which have 
taken the Zion of Enoch into my own bosom; and verily I say, even as many as 
have believed on my name, — for I am Christ, and in my own name, by the virtue 
of the blood which I have spilt, have I plead before the Father for them : but 
behold, the residue of the wicked have I kept in chains of darkness until the 
judgment of the great day, which shall come at the end of the earth; and even 
so will I cause the wicked to be kept, that will not hear my voice, but harden 
their hearts, and wo, wo, wo is their doom. * * Fear not little children, 
for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that the 
Father hath given me; and none of them that the Father hath given me shall be 
lost; and the Father and I are one; I am in the Father and the Father in me; 
and inasmuch as ye have received me, ye are in me and I in you; wherefore I 
am in your midst; and I am the Good Shepherd (and the Stone of Israel: he 
that buildeth upon this rock shall never fall), and the day cometh that you shall 
hear my voice and see me, and know that I am. * * Yerily, thus saith the 
Lord, it snail come to pass that every soul who forsaketh their sins and cometh 
unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my com- 
mandments, shall see my face, and know that I am, and that I am the true light 
that lighteth every man that cometh into' the world; that I am in the Father and 
the Father in me, and the Father and I are one; the Father because he gave me 
of his fullness; and the Son because I was in the world and made flesh my taber- 
nacle, and dwelt among the sons of men. I was in the world and received of 
my Father, and the works of him were plainly manifest; and John saw and bore 
record of the fullness of my glory; and the fullness of John's record is hereafter 
to be revealed. And he bore record saying, I saw his glory that he was in the 
beginning before the world was; therefore in the beginning the Word was; for 
he was the Word, even the Messenger of Salvation, the Light and Redeemer of 
the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world because the world was 
made for him; and in him was the life of men and the light of men. The worlds 
were made by him. Men were made by him. All things were made by him. 
And I, John, bare record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Be- 
gotten of the Father, full of grace and truth; even the spirit of truth which came 
and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us. And I, John, saw that he received 
not of the fullness at the first, but received grace for grace; and he received not 
of the fullness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a full- 
ness; and thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the full- 
ness at the first. * * And T, John, bare record that he received a fullness of 
the glory of the Father; and he received all power both in heaven and on earth; 
and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him. 1 ' — Doctrine and 
Covenants, 12: 5; 18: 1; 28: 1; 50: 8; 90: 1, 2. 

Brigham Young, after the death of the Prophet, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 439 

for a time confounded the views of the Church by 
sending forth a "proclamation to all the world" 
that "Adam is our Father and God." This is 
Brieham's revelation: 

"Now hear it, inhabitants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner. 
"When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a 
celestial body, aud brought Eve, one of his wives with him. He helped to make 
and organize this world. He is Michael the Arch-angel, the Ancient of Days ! 
about whom holy men have written and spoken — he is our Father aud our 
God, and the only God with whom we have to do. Every man upon the earth, 
professing Christians or non-professing, must hear it and will know it sooner or 
later. * * When the Virgin Mary conceived the child Jesus, the Father had 
begotten him in his own likeness. He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. 
And who is the Father? He is the first of the human family. * * Now let all 
who may hear these doctrines pause before they make light of them, or treat 
them with indifference, for they will prove their salvation or damnation." 

Wondrous difference between Joseph's revealing 
of Jesus Christ, the God of all creation, the very 
Eternal Father; but it truly illustrates the apostasy 
and perversion which followed the death of the 
Prophet. Here continues the true revelation of 
of Jesus: 

"Wherefore, Verily I say unto you, that aU things unto me are spiritual, and not 
at any time have I giveu unto you a law which was temporal, neither any man, 
or the children of men; neither Adam your father, whom I created." 

Of the Holy Ghost: "This Comforter is the promise which I give unto yott of 
eternal life, even the glory of the celestial kingdom; which glory is that of the 
church of the first born, even of God, the holiest of all, through Jesus Christ, his 
Son — he that ascendeth up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that 
he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all tilings, the 
light of truth, which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in 
the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made. 
As abo he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof 
by which it was made. And also the light of the stars, and the power thereof 
by which they were made. And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the 
earth upon which you stand. Aud the light which now shineth, which giveth 
you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light 
that quickeneth your understandings; which lisrht proceedeth forth from the 
presence of God. to fill the immensity of space. The which is in all things ; which 
giveth life to all things; which is the law by which all things are governed; even 
the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, 
who is in the midst of all things." 

The following inspired statement from the Prophet 
will fitly close his revelation of God to the Church : 

"By these things we know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and 
eternal, from everlasting to everlasting, the same unchangeable God, the framer 



44-0 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them; and that he created man, 
male and female; after his own image and in his own likeness, created he them; 
and gave unto them commandments that they should love and serve him, the 
only living and true God, and that he should be the only being whom they should 
worship. But by the transgression of these holy laws, man became sensual and 
devilish, and became fallen man. Wherefore the Almighty God gave his only 
begotten Son, as it is written in those scriptures which have been given of him. 
He suffered temptations but gave no heed unto them; he was crucified, died and 
rose again the third day; and ascended into heaven, to sit down on the right 
baud of the Father, to reign with Almighty power according to the will of the 
Father, that as many as would believe and be baptized in his holy name, and 
endure in faith to the end should be saved: not only those who believed after 
he came in the meridian of time, in the flesh, but all those from the beginning, 
even as many as were before he came, who believed in the words of the holy 
prophets, who spake as they were inspired by the gift of the Holy Ghost, who 
truly testified of him in all things, should have eternal life, as well as those who 
should come after, who should believe in the gifts and callings of God by the 
Holy Ghost, which beareth record of the Father, and of the Son; which Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost are one God, infinite and eternal, without end. Amen.' 1 — 
Doctrine and Covenants 17 ; 4, 5. 

That Christ, the Redeemer of Israel was also 
thus revealed to the -Hebrew Prophets and the 
Apostles might be shown with equal fulness, but as 
the general reader has the Bible for consultation the 
following passages will suffice. 

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall 
be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The 
mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 11 * * ''I even, I 
am the Lord; and beside me there is no Savior. * * I am the Lord, your 
Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. 11 — Isaiah. 

"Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall 
call his name Emmanuel, (which being interpreted is, God with us.) — Matthew. 

"Before Abraham, was I am." — Jesus. 

"For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, 
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions or principalities, or 
powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, 
and by him all things consist: and he is the head of the body, the Church : who 
is the beginning, the first born from the dead; that in all things he might have 
the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. 
— Colossians. 

"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of 
Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, 
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ 
greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had respect unto the recom- 
pense of reward. 11 — Paul to the Hebrews. 

"And did drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock 
that followed them : and that Rock was Christ.' 1 — Paul to the Romans. 

Thus will it appear that Jesus Christ was none 
other than Jehovah, the God of Israel. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

THE THEME OF ZION CHRIST BRINGING ZION FROM 

ALL HIS CREATIONS MOUNT ZION CELESTIAL- 

IZED THE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR 

THOUSAND SAVIOURS GOD DWELLETH IN ETER- 



And in this connection let us also listen to Jo- 
seph's expounding of the theme of Zion. In the 
Book of Enoch he reveals that "The Lord. came 
and dwelt with his people, and they dwelt in right- 
eousness. * * And the Lord called his people 
Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, 
and dwelt in righteousness ; and there was no poor 
among them. * * But lo Zion in process of time 
was taken up into heaven ! And the Lord said un- 
to Enoch, behold my abode forever." 

Thus it appears that Zion was set up by Enoch 
in the early ages of the earth, and the Lord came 
and dwelt with him and his people. During this 
partial millennium they learned the laws of celestial 
science, and by them became translated — a tvpe of 
what is to be done under the reign of Christ in the 
grand millennium. 

But concerning what the Kino- of Zion had al- 
ready done before Enoch's day, hear what Enoch 
says : 



442 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" You have taken Zion to your own bosom from 
all your creations, from all eternity to all eternity." 

Then hear what the King of Zion said he would 
do in the last days, when the " times of the restitu- 
tion of all things" should come in : 

" And righteousness will I send down out of 
heaven : and truth will I send forth out of the earth 
to bear testimony of my Only Begotten ; his resur- 
rection from the dead ; yea, and also the resurrec- 
tion of all men ; and righteousness and truth will I 
cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather 
out my own elect from the four quarters of the 
earth, unto a place which I shall prepare; a Holy 
City, that my people may gird up their loins, and 
be looking forth for the time of my coming ; for 
there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called 
Zion, a New Jerusalem. And the Lord said unto 
Enoch, then shall you and all your city meet them 
there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and 
they shall see us ; and we will fall upon their necks, 
and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss 
each other; and there shall be my abode, and it 
shall be Zion, which shall come forth out of all the 
creations which I have made ; and for the space of 
a thousand years shall the earth rest." 

So, according to the above, it is indeed true, as 
presented in the foregoing chapter, that Christ 
brings with him Zion from all his creations, to meet 
Adam and Enoch and all the Ancients of Days, to 
reign a thousand years in the earth's sphere. He 
shall bring all his holy angels with him ! A grand 
jubilee of worlds this, to welcome earth into their 
celestial sphere, — and the Ancients of worlds come 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 443 

down to accomplish her deliverance by their heav- 
enly powers, — to give to her the new celestial birth, 
and baptize her with fire and the Holy Ghost. 
Then will the poet's exultant strain be realized : 

" He will come down with heavenly power 
To carry us above ! " 

Once afterwards, on the American Continent, 
according to the Book of Mormon, there was some- 
thing like a Zion established. And now, in the 
dispensation of the fullness of times, when Jesus is 
to bring Zion from all his creations, Joseph has been 
sent to re-establish the earthly Zion in America, 
that a people may be prepared by the ministration 
of angels and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, to 
meet Messiah. 

At first, as we have seen, the saints looked upon 
Kirtland as Zion. But Joseph told them it was but 
one of her stakes. Then Jackson Co., Missouri, was 
looked upon as their Zion. But again he enlight- 
ened them by declaring that it was not Zion, but 
her centre stake. Then they wanted Zion to be 
established at Nauvoo. And then it was be pro- 
claimed that All America was Zion. Messiah shall 
reign over all America first, as the initial of the 
glorious consummation. This was the burden of 
Joseph's prophecies from the beginning. 

And the crowning prophecies of the Hebrew 
prophets, concerning Zion of the last days, Joseph 
applies to America. His universal theology, it will 
be remembered, makes the patriarchs of this conti- 
nent to be the highest inspiring geniuses of their 
descendants — the Hebrew prophets. For instance, 



444 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Michael, or Adam, whom Gabriel told Daniel was 
the Prince of his people, or the chief Archangel of 
the Hebrews; Gabriel, or Noah, being himself one 
of their Archangels, and Enoch, to whom Jude 
refers, another. Joseph also makes Zion, or America, 
the vast theatre of the gathering of the Israel of 
which we have treated, namely, those nations who 
have, in the preparatory work of Jehovah, mani- 
fested the spirit of an Israel ; while Jerusalem, dur- 
ing the millennium, becomes the theatre of action 
for the Jews. 

From some of the Hebrew prophecies catch we 
here a glimpse of the future grandeur of the Ameri- 
can civilization — the work of the Lord in this Prom- 
ised Land : 



u Arise and shine, for thy light is come, and the 
glory of the Lor_d is risen upon thee. * * 

" And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and 
kings to the brightness of thy rising. 

" And they shall call thee, The City of the Lord, 
The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. * * 

" Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end 
of the'world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Be- 
hold thy salvation cometh ; behold his reward is 
with him, and his work before him. 

"And they shall call them, The holy people, The 
redeemed of the Lord : and thou shalt be called, 
Sought out, A city not forsaken." 

That the Jewish prophets applied the subject of 
their inspirations specially to Jerusalem of Palestine, 
there can be no doubt ; but Joseph, giving the spirit 
of the broader view of Israel, swept their themes 



t 
LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 445 

over to America, where Messiah was going to reign. 
Yet is the restoration of the Jews contemplated in 
his view., and Jerusalem rises again after the glory 
of the Lord has risen on Zion. Nations other than 
the Jews have come of Abraham, and all are to be 
'gathered in the last days. This cannot be accom- 
plished in little Palestine. The subject was too vast 
for the comprehension of the Jewish prophets. It 
remained for Joseph to reveal the whole Israel of 
God, and designate their gathering place. 

Michael's prophecy is finely illustrative of .the 
subject : 

" But in the last days it shall come to pass, that 
the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be es- 
tablished in the top of the mountains, and it shall 
be exalted above the hills ; and many people shall 
flow unto it. 

" And many nations shall come, and say, Come 
and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and 
to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach 
us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for 
the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the 
Lord from Jerusalem. 

"And he shall judge among many people; and 
rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat 
their swords into plough-shares, and their spears 
into pruning hooks : nation shall not lift up sword 
against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
more." 

This can never be fulfilled by a little nation re- 
stored to Palestine; but the very hope of this age is 
that all of it and more will be the result of Ameri- 
can civilization when that reign of righteousness 



446 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

shall be brought in. For this Washington and his 
brethren established American independence; and 
to make straight the way for this reign of righteous- 
ness, it may be added, Joseph was sent by Messiah, 
— for this his blood was shed as the testament of 
his Messianic mission. 

But see how the vision of Zion is enlarged when 
the Ancient of Days and Jesus — holding «the keys 
of the universe — come down with celestial hosts to 
take part with mortals in the millennial action, with 
America as the literal Zion of earth in the last days. 

John the Revelator says: "I, John, saw the holy 
city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of 
heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her hus- 
band. And I heard a great voice out of heaven 
saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men." 

Joseph also has seen this, and has revealed what 
Enoch saw. 'Tis the vision of John enlarged. 
Zion is coming down from all the creations of God. 

The heavenly Zion, then, is approaching the 
earth — coming down from God out of heaven — and 
it is drawing as near to the Zion of mortals — Amer- 
ica — as is yet possible for Messiah to come. For 
"who may abide the day of his coming? and who 
shall stand when he appeareth?" Joseph was in- 
carnated in America expressly to prepare for the 
day of his coming. He saw Messiah in the temple 
at Kirtland, and at other times "when in the spirit," 
when baptized with the Holy Ghost. 

Joseph very nearly declared, as plain as language 
could speak, that the Ancient of Days is even now 
sitting with his grand council in his heavenly Zion. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 447 



What else does Joseph's mission mean? Has not 
the Ancient of Days, and even the King of the 
Universe, visited the earth for the purposes of the 
millennium? Hear what the Prophet says at a date 
later than the revelation on the Ancient of Days : 

" The sound saluted my ears. We are come unto 
Mount Zion. the city of the living God, the heav- 
enly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of 
aneels, to the eeneral assemblv and church of the 
First Born, which are written in heaven, and to God 
the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made 
perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new cove- 
nant." 

Let us remember, also, in connection with this, 
Joseph's practical talk while in Liberty jail, con- 
cerning a congress of angels at that time in session 
over the earth! 

The Ancients of Days shall sit — not only the 
ancients of this earth, but also the ancients from all 
Messiah's creations — and they shall meet " Enoch 
and his band," according to the covenant, to spend 
with Adam and his resurrected sons and daughters 
a millennial era. 

And the earth will feel their celestial influence. 
Is not this the meaning of the wondrous develop- 
ments of this a^e ? Trulv the Ancients-are at times 
anions us. and the church of the First Born, the 
Kinor of Zion. is be^inninor his rei°m over the earth ! 

During the millennium the East is also to be re- 
suscitated and Jerusalem restored. Joseph has 
prophesied that Great Britain will be greatly in- 
strumental in this. Orson Hvde has also thus 



£4-8 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

prophesied. But the Jews will not receive their 

Messiah till after the thousand years. Says Joseph : 

" The battle of Gog and Magog will be after the 

millennium. The remnant of all nations that fisrht 

o 

against Jerusalem were commanded to go up to 
Jerusalem to worship in the millennium." 

It is at that battle that Messiah shall come and 
deliver them. " And they shall look upon me whom 
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as 
one mourneth for his only son." "And one shall 
say unto him, What are these wounds in thy hands? 
Then he shall answer, Those with which I was 
wounded in the house of my friends." 

" And I will bring the third part through the fire 
[the rest are destroyed], and will refine them as 
silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: 
they shall call on my name, and I will hear them : 
I will say, It is my people : and they shall say, The 
Lord is my God." 

Then also will the' prophetic words be realized: 
"The Lord shall reign in Mount Zion and in Jeru- 
salem before his Ancients gloriously." 

With this let us now also consider the view which 
Joseph gives of this earth celestialized: 

"This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, 
will be made like unto crystal, and will be a Urim 
and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, 
whereby all things pertaining to an inferior king- 
dom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be man- 
ifested to those who dwell on it." 

Of Mount Zion celestialized he says: " There will 
be one hundred and forty-four thousand Saviours 
on Mount Zion, and with them an innumerable host 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 449- 

that no man can number." And in the same con- 
nection he says : " God Almighty himself dwells in 
eternal fire ; flesh and blood cannot dwell there, for 
all corruption is devoured by the fire. Our God is 
a consuming fire. When our flesh is quickened by 
the Spirit there will be no blood in the tabernacle. 

* * Immortality dwells in everlasting burnings. 

* * All men who are immortal dwell in everlast- 
ing burnings." 

True, Joseph taught his disciples that this earth 
is the home of the race of Adam, and that the Saints 
would possess it for their eternal abode ; that the 
tabernacle of God would be in their midst ; that he 
would dwell with them upon the earth, and that they 
should reign upon the earth as kings and Priests to 
God and the Lamb forever and forever. But that 
will be when the Saints and the earth are immortal- 
ized. The millennial^ reign is to bring the earth 
into this condition, and the "last' great change" 
consummates the transformation ; and thus the 
Saints, prepared by the powers of an endless life, 
will not be consumed by the grand revealing of the 
glory of that God who " dwells in everlasting burn- 
ings." 

The elders also apply the following from Isaiah : 
"And it shall come to- pass, that he that is left in 
Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be 
called holy, even every one that is written among 
the living in Jerusalem : 

"When the Lord shall have washed away the filth 
from the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged 
the. blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by 
the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning. 



45° LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" And the Lord will create upon every dwelling 
place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a 
cloud and a smoke by day, and the shining of a 
flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall 
be a defence." 

But Joseph, as previously seen, has placed this 
event of the purging of Jerusalem by the " spirit of 
burning " after the battle of Gog and Magog, at the 
end of the millennium, when the Jews shall have 
been delivered by their Messiah and he has made 
himself known unto them. 

At that time the earth will be rapidly passing into 
her great celestial change, through the wondrous 
development of celestial science, on her face and 
within her sphere, applied by the powers of that Zion 
which has been coming down out of heaven to meet 
the Zion of the earth. Here is the view of that final 
meeting, as given in the Doctrine and Covenants : 

" The Lord hath redeemed his people, 
" And Satan is bound and time is no longer : 
" The Lord hath gathered all things in one : 
"The Lord hath brought down Zion from above: 
"The Lord hath brought up Zion from beneath: 
" The earth hath travailed and brought forth her 

strength : 
" And truth is established in her bowels >- 
" And the heavens have smiled upon her : 
" And she is clothed with the glory of God : 
" For he stands in the midst of his people." 

Thus are immortals to celebrate the earth's celes- 
tialization. Thus is earth to become as the Sea of 
Glass — as a vast Urim and Thiimmim — no longer 
in need of a borrowed light ! 

And this is Zion in all her glory! 



CHAPTER XLII. 

calhoun's reply to Joseph's interrogatory — 

joseph answers him his own presidential 

manifesto. 

Letters from the Presidential candidates now 
began to arrive, in answer to the Prophet's inquiry, 
noted in a preceding chapter. The first was from 
John C. Calhoun, as follows: 

Fort Hill, 2d December, 1843. 

Sir: — You ask me what would be my rule of ac- 
tion relative to the Mormons, or Latter-day Saints, 
should I be elected^ President, to which I answer, 
that if I should be elected I would strive to admin- 
ister the government according to the Constitution 
and the laws of the Union ; and that as they make 
no distinction between citizens of different religious 
creeds, I should make none. As far as it depends 
on the Executive department, all should have the 
full benefit of both, and none should be exempt 
from their operation. 

But as you refer to the case of Missouri, candor 
compels me to repeat what I said to you at Wash- 
ington, that, according to my views, the case does 
not come within the jurisdiction of the Federal 
Government, which is one of limited and specific 
powers. 

With respect, I am, &c, &c, 

J. C, Calhoun, 
Mr. Joseph Smith. 



452 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

To this letter Joseph made one of his most char- 
acteristic replies. It was as follows: 

Nauvoo, III., January 2d, 1844. 

Sir: — Your reply to my letter of last November, 
concerning your rule of action towards the Latter- 
day Saints, if elected President, is at hand; and that 
you and your friends of the same opinion relative 
to the matter in question may not be disappointed 
as to me or my mind upon so grave a subject, per- 
mit me, as a law-abiding man, as a well-wisher to 
the perpetuity of constitutional rights and liberty, 
and as a friend to the free worship of Almighty God 
by all, according to the dictates of every person's 
own conscience, to say I am surprised that a man 
or men in the highest stations of public life should 
have made up such a fragile " view" of a case, than 
which there is not one on the face of the globe 
fraught with so much consequence to the happiness 
of men in this world or the world to come. 

To be sure, the first paragraph of your letter ap- 
pears very complacent and fair on a white sheet of 
paper. And who, that is ambitious for greatness 
and power, would not have said the same thing? 
Your oath would bind you to support the Constitu- 
tion and laws ; and as all creeds and religions are 
alike tolerated, they must, of course, all be justified 
or condemned according to merit or demerit. But 
why, tell me, why are all the principal men held up 
for public stations so cautiously careful not to pub- 
lish to the world that they will judge a righteous 
judgment, law or no law? For laws and opinions, 
like the vanes of steeples, change with the wind. 

One Congress passes a law, another repeals it ; 
and one statesman says that the Constitution means 
this, and another that ; and who does not know that 
all may be wrong? The opinion and pledge, there- 
fore, in the first paragraph of your reply to my 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 453 

question, like the forced steam from the engine of a 
steamboat, makes the show of a bright cloud at first, 
but when it comes in contact with a purer atmos- 
phere, dissolves to common air again. 

Your second paragraph leaves you raked before 
yourself, like a likeness in a mirror, when you say 
that, "'according to your view, the Federal Govern- 
ment is one of limited and specific powers," and has 
no jurisdiction in the case of the " Mormons." So, 
then, a State can at any time, expel any portion of 
her citizens with impunity, and, in the language of 
Mr. Van Buren, frosted over with your gracious 
" views of the case." though the cause is ever so just, 
Government can do nothing for them, because it has 
no power. 

Go on. then, Missouri, after another set of inhab- 
ls the Latter-day Saints did) have entered 
some two or three hundred thousand dollars' worth 
of land, and made extensive improvements thereon. 
Go on, then, I say; banish the occupants cr owners, 
or kill them, as the mobbers did many of the Latter- 
day Saints, and take their land and property as 
spoil ; and let the Legislature, as in the case of the 
" Mormons." appropriate a couple of hundred thou- 
sand dollars to pay the mob for doing that job, for 
the renowned Senator from South Carolina, Mr. 
j. C. Calhoun, says the powers of the Federal Gov- 
ernment are so specific and limited that it has no 
jurisdiction of the case ! O, ye people who groan 
under the oppression of tyrants ! — ye exiled Poles, 
who have felt the iron hand of Russian grasp ! — ye 
poor and unfortunate among all nations ! Come to 
the asylum of the oppressed; buy ye lands of the 
General Government ; pay in your money to the 
treasury to strengthen the army and the navy ; 
worship God according to the dictates of your own 
consciences ; pay in your taxes to support the 
great heads of a glorious nation ; but remember a 



454 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" sovereign State " is so much more powerful than 
the United. States — the parent Government — that it 
can exile you at pleasure, mob you with impunity, 
confiscate your lands and property, have the Legis- 
lature sanction it, — yea, even murder you as by edict 
of an emperor, and it does no wrong; for the noble 
Senator of South Carolina says the power of the 
Federal Government is so limited and specific that 
it has no jurisdistion of the case ! What think ye 
of imperium in imperio ? 

Ye spirits of the blessed of all ages, hark ! Ye 
shades of departed statesmen, listen ! Abraham, 
Moses, Homer, Socrates, Solon, Solomon, and all 
that ever thought" of right and wrong, look down 
from your exaltations, if you have any, for it is said, 
" In the midst of counselors there is safety;" and 
when you have learned that fifteen thousand inno- 
cent citizens, after having purchased their lands of 
the United States and paid for them, were expelled 
from a " sovereign State," by order of the Governor, 
at the point of the bayonet, their arms taken from 
them by the same authority, and their right of mi- 
gration into said State denied, under pain of im- 
prisonment, whipping, robbing, mobbing, and even 
death, and no justice or recompense allowed ; and, 
from the Legislature, with the Governor at the head, 
down to the justice of the peace, with a bottle of 
whiskey in one hand and a bowie knife in the other, 
hear them all declare that there is no justice for a 
" Mormon" in that State ; and judge ye a righteous 
judgment, and tell me when the virtue of the States 
was stolen, where the honor of the General Gov- 
ernment lies hid, and what clothes a Senator with 
wisdom ! O, nullifying Carolina ! O, little tem- 
pestuous Rhode Island ! Would it not be well for 
the great men of the nation to read the fable of 
the partial judge; and when part of the free citi- 
zens of a State had been expelled contrary to the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 455 

Constitution, mobbed, robbed, plundered, and many 
murdered, instead of searching into the course taken 
with Joanna Southcott, Ann Lee, the French 
prophets, the Quakers of New England, and re- 
bellious negroes in the slave States, to hear both 
sides and then judge, rather than to have the morti- 
fication to say, " O, it is my bull that has killed your 
ox ! That alters the case ! I must inquire into it ; 
and if — and if — ." 

If the General Government has no power to re- 
instate expelled citizens to their rights, there is a 
monstrous hypocrite fed and fostered from the hard 
earnings of the people. A real "bull beggar" up- 
held by sycophants. And although you may wink 
to the priests to stigmatize, wheedle the drunkards 
to swear, and raise the hue and cry of " Impostor! 
false prophet ! G — d d — n old Joe Smith !" yet re- 
member, if the Latter-day Saints are not restored 
to all their rights and paid for all their losses, 
according to the known rules of justice and judg- 
ment, reciprocation and common honesty among 
men, that God will come out of his hiding place and 
vex this nation with a sore vexation ; yea, the con- 
suming wrath of an offended God shall smoke 
through the nation with as much distress and woe 
as independence has blazed through with pleasure 
and delight. Where is the strength of Govern- 
ment ? Where is the patriotism of a Washington, 
a Warren, and Adams ? And where is a spark from 
the watch-fire of '76, by which one candle might be 
lit that would glimmer upon the confines of Demo- 
cracy? Well may it be said that one man is not a 
State, nor one State the nation. 

In the days of General Jackson, when France re- 
fused the first instalment for spoliations, there was 
power, force, and honor enough to resent injustice 
and insult, and the money came. And shall Mis- 
souri, filled with negro drivers and white men 



456 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

stealers, go " unwhipped of justice" for tenfold 
greater sins than France ? No! verily no ! While I 
have power of body and mind — while water runs and 
grass grows — while virtue is lovely and vice hateful, 
and while a stone points out a sacred spot where a 
fragment of American liberty once was, I or my 
posterity will plead the cause of injured innocence, 
until Missouri makes atonement for all her sins, or 
sinks disgraced, degraded, and damned to hell, 
"where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not 
quenched." 

Why, sir, the power not delegated to the United 
States and the States belongs to the people, and 
Congress sent to do the people's business has all 
power. And shall fifteen thousand citizens groan 
in exile ? O, vain men ! will ye not, if ye do not 
restore them to their rights and $2,000,000 worth of 
property, relinquish to them (the Latter-day Saints), 
as a body, their portion of power that belongs to 
them according to the Constitution ? Power has its 
convenience as well as inconvenience. " The world 
was not made for Caesar alone, but for Titus too." 

I will give you a parable. A certain lord had a 
vineyard in a goodly land, which men labored in at 
their pleasure. A few meek men also went and 
purchased with money from some of these chief men 
that labored at pleasure a portion of land in the 
vineyard, at a very remote part of it, and began to 
improve it, and to eat and drink the fruit thereof, 
when some vile persons, who regarded not man, 
neither feared the lord of the vineyard, rose up sud- 
denly and robbed these meek men, and drove them 
from their possessions, killing many. 

This barbarous act made no small stir among the 
men in the vineyard, and all that portion who were 
attached to that part of the vineyard where the men 
were robbed, rose up in grand council, with their 
chief man, who had firstly ordered the deed to be 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 457 

done, and made a covenant not to pay for the cruel 
deed, but to keep the spoil, and never let those 
meek men set their feet on that soil again, neither 
recompense them for it. 

Now these meek men, in their distress, wisely 
sought redress of those wicked men in every possi- 
ble manner, and received none. They then suppli- 
cated the chief men, who held the vineyard at 
pleasure, and who had the power to sell and defend 
it, for redress and redemption ; and those men, lov- 
ing the fame and favor of the multitude more than 
the glory of the lord of the vineyard, answered: 
"Your cause is just, but we can do nothing for you, 
because we have no power." 

Now when the Lord of the vineyard saw that 
virtue and innocence was not regarded, and his vine- 
yard occupied by wicked men, he sent men and took 
the possession of it to himself, and destroyed these 
unfaithful servants, and appointed them their por- 
tion among hypocrites. 

And let me say that all men who say that Con- 
gress has no power to restore and defend the rights 
of her citizens, have not the love of the truth abid- 
ing in them. Congress has power to protect the 
nation against foreign invasion and internal broil ; 
and whenever that body passes an act to maintain 
right with any power, or to restore right to any of 
her citizens, it is the supreme law of the land. And 
should a State refuse submission, that State is guilty 
of insurrection or rebellion, and the President has 
as much power to repel 'it as Washington had to 
march against the "whiskey boys of Pittsburgh," or 
General Jackson had to send an armed force to sup- 
press the rebellion of South Carolina. 

To close, I would admonish you, before you let 
your " candor " compel you again to write upon a 
subject great as the salvation of man, consequential 
as the life of the Saviour, broad as the principles of 



45& LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

eternal truth, and valuable as the jewels of eternity, 
to read in the eighth section and first article of the 
Constitution of the United States, the first, four- 
teenth and seventeenth "specific" and not very 
"limited powers" of the Federal Government, what 
can be done to protect the lives, property and rights 
of a virtuous people, when the administrators of the 
law % and lawmakers are unbought by bribes, uncor- 
rupted by patronage, untempted by gold, unawed 
by fear, and uncontaminated by tangling alliances- 
even like Caesar's wife, not only unspotted, but un- 
suspected ! And God, who cooled the heat of a 
Nebuchadnezzar's furnace, or shut the mouths of 
lions for the honor of a Daniel, will raise your mind 
above the narrow notion that the General Govern- 
ment has no power, to the sublime idea that Con- 
gress, with the President as Executor, is as almighty 
in its sphere as Jehovah is in his. 

With great respect, I have the honor to be, 
Your obedient servant, 

Joseph Smith. 

But the Prophet, becoming tired of fruitlessly 
appealing to men in high places, now boldly issues 
his views, in the form of a manifesto, as follows : 

Views of the powers mid policy of the Government of 
the United States. 

Born in a land of liberty, and breathing an air 
uncorrupted with the sirocco of barbarous times, I 
ever feel a double anxiety for the happiness of all 
men, both in time and in eternity. 

My cogitations, like Daniel's, have for a long time 
troubled me when I viewed the condition of men 
throughout the world, and more especially in this 
boasted realm, where the Declaration of Independ- 
ence " holds these truths to be self-evident, that all 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 459 

men are created equal ; that they are endowed by 
tbeir Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that 
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap- 
piness ; " but at the same time some two or three 
millions of people are held as slaves for life, because 
the spirit of them is covered with a darker skin than 
ours ; and hundreds of our own kindred for an in- 
fraction, or supposed infraction, of some overwise 
statute, have to be incarcerated in dungeon glooms, 
or suffer the more moral penitentiary gravitation of 
mercy in a nutshell, while the duelist, the debauchee, 
and the defaulter of millions, and other criminals, 
take the uppermost rooms at feasts, or, like the bird 
of passage, find a more congenial clime by flight. 

The wisdom which ought to characterize the 
freest, wisest, and most noble nation of the nine- 
teenth century, should, like the sun in his meridian 
splendor, warm every object beneath its rays ; and 
the main efforts of her officers, who are nothing 
more or less than the servants of the people, ought 
to be directed to ameliorate the condition of all, 
black or white, bond or free, for the best of books 
says, " God hath made of one blood all nations of 
men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth." 

Our common country presents to all men the 
same advantages, the same facilities, the same pros- 
pects, the same honors, and the same rewards; and 
without hypocricy, the Constitution, when it says, 
" we, the people of the United States, in order to 
form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure 
domestic tranquility, provide for the common de- 
fence, promote the general welfare, and secure the 
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, 
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the 
United States of America," meant just what it said, 
without reference to color or condition, ad infinitum. 

The aspirations and expectations of a virtuous 
people, environed with so wise, so liberal, so deep, 



460 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

so broad, and so high a charter of equal rights as 
appears in said Constitution, ought to be treated \>y 
those to whom the administration of the laws is 
entrusted, with as much sanctity as the prayers of 
the saints are treated in heaven, that love, confi- 
dence and union, like the sun, moon and stars, 
should bear witness, 



'Forever singing as they shine: 
The hand that made us is divine. 



Unity is power; and when I reflect on the im- 
portance of it to the stability of all governments, I 
am astounded at the silly moves of persons and 
parties to foment discord in order to ride into power 
on the current of popular excitement. Nor am I 
less surprised at the stretches of power or restric- 
tions of right which too often appear as acts of leg- 
islators, to pave the way to some favorite political 
scheme, as destitute of intrinsic merit as a wolfs 
heart is of the milk of human kindness. * * * 

The respected and venerable Thomas Jefferson, 
in his inaugural address, made more than forty years 
ago, shows what a beautiful prospect an innocent, 
virtuous nation presents to the sage's eye where 
there is space for enterprise, hands for industry, 
heads for heroes, and hearts for moral greatness. 
He said : " A rising nation spread over a wide and 
fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich 
productions of their industry, engaged in commerce 
with nations, who feel power and forget right, ad- 
vancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of 
mortal eye — when I contemplate these transcendant 
objects, and see the honor, the happiness, and the 
hopes of this beloved country committed to the 
issue and the auspices of this day, I shrink from the 
contemplation, and humble myself before the mag- 
nitude of the undertaking." 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 46 1 

Such a prospect was truly soul-stirring to a good 
man. But " since the fathers have fallen asleep" 
wicked and designing men have unrobed the Gov- 
ernment of its glory, and the people, if not in dust 
and ashes, or in sackcloth, have to lament in pov- 
erty her departed greatness, while demagogues build 
fires in the North and South, East and West, to 
keep up their spirits till it is better times. But year 
after year has left the people to hope, till the very 
name of Congress, or State Legislature, is as horri- 
ble to the sensitive friend of his country as the 
house of "Bluebeard" is to children, or "Crock- 
ford's" Hell of London to meek men. * * * 

* * * General Jackson, upon his ascension to 
the great chair of the Chief Magistracy, said : "As 
long as our government is administered for the good 
of the people, and is regulated by their will, as long 
as it secures to us the rights of person and property, 
liberty of conscience and of the press, it will be 
worth defending; and so long as it is worth defend- 
ing, a patriotic militia will cover it with an impene- 
trable cegis." 

Gen. Jackson's administration may be denomi- 
nated the acme of American glory, liberty, and 
prosperity, for the national debt, which in 1815, on 
account of the preceding war, was $125,000,000, and 
being lessened gradually, was paid up in his golden 
day, and preparations were made to distribute the 
surplus revenue among the several States. And 
that august patriot, to use his own words in his 
farewell address, retired, leaving " a great people 
prosperous and happy, in the full enjoyment of lib- 
erty and peace, honored and respected by every 
nation of the world." 

At the age then of sixty years, our blooming 
Republic began to decline under the withering 
touch of Martin Van Buren. Disappointed ambi- 
tion, thirst for power, pride, corruption, party spirit, 



462 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

faction, patronage, perquisites, fame, tangling alli- 
ances, priestcraft, and spiritual wickedness in high 
places, struck hands and reveled in midnight splen- 
dor. 

Trouble, vexation, perplexity, and contention, 
mingled with hope, fear and murmuring, rumbled 
through the Union and agitated the whole nation, 
as would an earthquake at the centre of the earth, 
the world heaving the sea beyond its bounds and 
shaking the everlasting hills, so, in hopes of better 
times, while jealousy, hypocritical pretensions, and 
pompous ambition were luxuriating on the ill-gotten 
spoils of the people, they arose in their majesty like 
a tornado and swept through the land, till General 
Harrison appeared as a star among the storm-clouds 
for better weather. * * * 

No honest man can doubt for a moment that the 
glory of American liberty is on the wane, and that 
calamity and confusion will sooner or later destroy 
the peace of the people. Speculators will urge a 
national bank as a savior of credit and comfort. A 
hireling pseudo priesthood will plausibly push abo- 
lition doctrines and doings and " human rights " into 
Congress and into every other place where conquest 
smells of fame or opposition swells to popularity. 
Democracy, Whiggery and cliquery will attract 
their elements and foment divisions among the 
people, to accomplish fancied schemes and accumu- 
late power, while poverty, driven to despair like 
hunger forcing its way through a wall, will break 
through the statutes of men to save life and mend 
the breach in prison glooms. * * * 

Now, O people ! people ! turn unto the Lord and 
live, and reform this nation. Frustrate the designs 
of wicked men. Reduce Congress at least two- 
thirds. * * . * Pay them two dollars and their 
board per diem. That is more than the farmer gets, 
and he lives honestly. Curtail the officers of 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 463 

government in pay, number and power, for the Philis- 
tine lords have shorn our nation of its goodly locks 
in the lap of Delilah. 

Petition your State Legislatures to pardon every 
convict in their several penitentiaries, blessing 
them as they go, and saying to them, in the name 
of the Lord, Go thy way, and sin no more. 

Advise your legislators when they make laws for 
larceny, burglary, or any felony, to make the penalty 
applicable to work upon roads, public works, or any 
place where the culprit can be taught more wisdom 
and more virtue, and become more enlightened. 
Rigor and seclusion will never do as much to re- 
form the propensities of men as reason and friend- 
ship. Murder only can claim confinement or death. 
Let the penitentiaries be turned into seminaries of 
learning, where intelligence, like the angels of 

heaven, would banish such fragments of barbar- 

ji jf ji 
ism. * # 

Petition also, ye goodly inhabitants of the Slave 
States, your legislators to abolish slavery by the 
year 1850. * * Pray Congress to pay every man 
a reasonable price for his slaves out of the surplus 
revenue arising from the sale of public lands. * * 
Break off the shackles from the poor black man, and 
hire him to labor like other human beings, for "an 
hour of virtuous liberty on earth is worth a whole 
eternity of bondage." Abolish the practice in the 
army and navy of trying men by court-martial for 
desertion. If a soldier or marine runs away send 
him his wages, with this instruction : that his country 
will never trust him again — he has forfeited his honor. 

Make honor the standard with all men. Be sure 
that good is rendered for evil in all cases, and the 
whole nation, like a kingdom of kings and priests, 
will rise up in righteousness, and be respected as 
wise and worthy on earth, and as just and holy for 
heaven by Jehovah, the author of perfection, * * 



464 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Give every man his constitutional freedom, and 
the President full power to send an army to sup- 
press mobs, and the States authority to repeal and 
impugn that relic of folly which makes it necessary 
for a governor of a State to make a demand of the 
President for troops in case of invasion or rebellon. 
The Governor himself may be a mobber, and in- 
stead of being punished, as he should be, for murder 
or treason, he may destroy the very lives, rights, 
and property he should protect. * * * 

We have had Democratic Presidents, Whig Pres- 
idents, a pseudo-Democratic-Whig President, and 
now it is time to have a President of the United 
States. And let the people of the whole Union, 
like the inflexible Romans, whenever they find a 
promise made by a candidate that is not practised 
as an officer, hurl the miserable sycophant from his 
exaltation, as God did Nebuchadnezzar, to crop the 
grass of the field with a beast's heart among the 
cattle. * * * 

"Were I the President of the United States, by 
the voice of a virtuous people, I would honor the 
old paths of the venerated fathers of freedom. I 
would walk in the tracks of the illustrious patriots 
who carried the ark of the government upon their 
shoulders with an eye single to the glory of the 
people. * * ■ * 

I would, as the universal friend of man, open the 
prisons, open the eyes, open the ears, and open the 
hearts of all people, to behold and enjoy freedom 
— unadulterated freedom. And God, who once 
cleansed the violence of the earth with a flood, 
whose Son laid down his life for the salvation of all 
his Father gave him out of the world, and who has 
promised that he will come and purify the world 
again with fire in the last days, should be suppli- 
cated by me for the good of all people. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 465 

With the highest esteem, I am a friend of virtue 
and of the people. 

Joseph Smith. 

Some time afterwards an editorial ap-peared in 
the Times and Seasons, headed " Who shall be our 
next President?" and closing thus: "Whatever, 
therefore, be the opinions of other men, our course 
is marked out, and our motto henceforth will be, 
General Joseph Smith!" And thereupon was 
thrown out the banner, "For President, Joseph 
Smith," . 



30 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

THE CIVIL WAR FORETOLD REBELLION TO BEGIN 

AT SOUTH CAROLINA PROTEST AGAINST AN 

EXODUS TO HENRY CLAY JOSEPH^ MEASURES. 

It will be readily perceived that in the foregoing 
manifesto, Joseph had presented himself to the 
United States, not as a politician, but as a Prophet. 
Much of his enunciation of national policy was 
purely in the spirit of Messiah's minister, urging 
upon Congress and the people of both sections of 
the States, reforms necessary to the prevention of 
revolution and civil war, concerning which he had 
given a famous revelation twelve years before, now 
herewith presented: 

REVELATION GIVEN DECEMBER 25th, 1832. 

"Verily thus saith the Lord, concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, 
beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in 
the death and misery of many souls. The days will come that war will be poured 
out upon all nations, beginning at that place ; for behold the Southern States shall 
be divided aeainst the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other 
nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call 
upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and thus 
war shall be poured out upon all nations. And it shall come to pass, after many 
days, slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshalled and dis- 
ciplined for war. And it shall come to pass also, that the remnants who are left 
of the land will marshal themselves, and shall become exceeding angry, and shall 
vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation; and thus, with the sword, and by blood- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 467 

shed, the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and 
earthquakes, and the thunder of Heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, 
shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation and 
chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made 
a full end of all nations; that the cry of the Saints, and of the blood of the Saints, 
shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, from the earth, to 
be avenged of their enemies. Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not 
moved, until the day of the Lord come ; for behold it cometh quickly, saith the 
Lord. Amen." 

The Prophet foretold the rebellion, he suggested 
the ways to escape; and the very burden of his 
manifesto was — "Now, O people! people! turn 
unto the Lord and live, and reform this nation. 

We have reached now the point of the Prophet's 
history which was afterwards thrown into much 
confusion by the Church historians to shape the 
close of his life toward the subsequent exodus. 
The reader will have noticed a recorded prophecy 
of the date of August 6th, 1842, in which Joseph 
is made to foretell that the Saints would be "driven 
to the Rocky Mountains." That at about this time 
some of the leading men of the nation did suggest 
the removal of the Mormons to the Pacific Slope 
is a fact of general history ; but the following pas- 
sages from the Prophet's famous letter to Henry 
Clay, dated May 13th, 1844, just six weeks before 
hts martyrdom, seem to make the record very plain: 

"It is currently rumored that your dernier resort 
for the Latter-day Saints is to emigrate to Oregon, 
or California. Such cruel humanity; such noble 
injustice ; such honorable cowardice ; such foolish 
wisdom, and such vicious virtue could only emanate 
from Clay. After the Saints have been plundered 
of three or four millions of land and property, by 



468 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the people and powers of the sovereign State of 
Missouri ; after they have sought for redress and 
redemption from the County Court to Congress* 
and been denied through religious prejudice, and 
sacerdotal dignity ; after they have builded a city 
and two temples at an immense expense "of labor 
and treasure; after they have increased from hun- 
dreds to hundreds of thousands ; and, after they 
have sent missionaries to the various nations of the 
earth, to gather Israel according to the predictions 
of all the holy prophets since the world began, that 
great plenipotentiary, — the renowned Secretary of 
State, the ignoble duelist, the gambling Senator, and 
Whig candidate for the Presidency, Henry Clay, 
advises the Latter-day Saints to go to Oregon to 
obtain justice and set up a government of their own. 
* * Why, Great God ! to transport 200,000 people 
through a vast prairie, over the Rocky Mountains, 
to Oregon, a distance of nearly 2000 miles, would 
cost more than four millions ; or, should they go by 
Cape Horn in ships to California, the cost would be 
more than twenty millions; and all this to save the 
United States from inheriting the disgrace of Mis- 
souri, for murdering and robbing the Saints with 
impunity ! * * Ah ! sir, let this doctrine go to 
and fro throughout the whole earth, that We, as 
Van Buren said, know your cause is just, but the 
United States government can do nothing for you, 
because it has no power ; you must go to Oregon, 
and get justice from the Indians." 

Here it will be perceived that this proposed Mor- 
mon hegira aroused the righteous indignation of 
the Prophet, and did not by any means accord 
with his views and purposes concerning the destiny 
of the Saints in America and throughout the world. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET, 469 

True, he did foresee the possible driving of the 
Saints farther west. But we shall discover by tra- 
cing Joseph's plans, that at this very moment, he 
was revolving purposes which would altogether 
sweep the necessity of an exodus out of men's 
thoughts, while they gave promise of a ten-fold 
greater increase to the Church. He was about to 
change his methods. Hitherto it had been neces- 
sary for the growth of the Church as Zion and the 
unfolding of the dispensation of the gathering of a 
Latter-day Israel, that the Saints should make some 
grand ^location. There was something central in 
the very idea of a literal Zion on earth. Hence the 
gathering first to Kirtland and afterwards the revela- 
tion of the Zion in Jackson county, Missouri. This 
was her center ; "the center of the land " and the 
center of the Millennial civilization ; and, notwith- 
standing their expulsions, in the minds of the Saints 
the location of the capital of Zion is established as 
the glorious hope of prophecy. 

But this gathering of the Saints to a grand cen- 
ter had been the cause of two g**eat evils. It had 
aroused the social and political Jealousy and malice 
of both Missouri and Illinois; for the increase of 
the Saints was as an intolerable menace to the 
people of those States, who saw in this growth and 
unity the balance of all power, and thereby an 
absolute Mormon supremacy. Tens of thousands 
were also expected to flock to Zion from the British 
mission. If this gathering continued to pour its 
tide of peoples from Europe toward a central place, 
a hundred thousand disciples would in a few years 



470 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

have been gathered to Illinois and the adjacent 
States. Their united votes would have controlled 
those States. Success would have multiplied the 
opportunities of success; and long ere this, follow- 
ing up such a prospect, the Prophet would have 
held half a million votes at his command among 
the disciples. Such were the prospects before the 
people of Illinois and Missouri ; and this produced 
the deadly antagonism against the further settling 
of the Mormons in those States. But this was not 
the least of the dangers that threatened the Mor- 
mon community. The curse of ambition and the 
love of temporal power had been engendered in 
the souls of the Elders. They were fast departing 
from the pure spirit of the gospel and the simplicity 
of disciples of Christ. Temporal dominion rather 
than evangelical success was the burden of their 
ministry ; while ambitious politicians were con- 
stantly flocking to the standard of the Prophet 
seeking political preferment. One warning voice 
was constantly raised against all this ambitious dis- 
play in the Church. It was the voice of Emma, 
the wife of Joseph. 

That Joseph was somewhat carried away by the 
very grandeur of his own career is more than pos- 
sible, but his inspired mind was fertile with extra- 
ordinary resources; so he resolved on changing the 
methods of the gathering. All America was now 
declared to be Zion. Jackson county was still 
the center of promise ; Nauvoo still the beloved 
city ; but Zion was to lengthen her chords, and 
Stakes were to be established in every State and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 471 

Territory. It was designed that High Priests 
should be chosen and sent abroad in the States 
with their families to build up these contemplated 
Stakes of Zion, and colonies even sent out under 
Elders of a pioneering character; hence Texas, 
California, and Oregon were brought into the 
design, and became the subjects of current talk. 

It is somewhat anticipating history, but the sub- 
ject of the Prophets last measures is so important 
to be decided at this point that the attention of the 
reader is called to the action of the first Confer- 
ence of the Church after the martyrdom : 

" President B. Young then appeared and pro- 
ceeded to select men from the High Priests' Quo- 
rum, to go abroad in all the Congressional Districts 
of the United States, to preside over the branches 
of the Church." 

There were no less than eighty-five of these 
Presidents of Stakes chosen. The record con- 
tinues : 

" President Young explained the object for which 
these High Priests were sent out, and informed 
them that it was .not the design to go and tarry six 
months and then return, but to go and settle down, 
where they can take their families and tarry until 
the Temple is built, and then come and get their 
endowment, and return to their families and build 
a Stake as large as this." 

There were ordained, at this October Conference 
of 1844, about sixty new High Priests, to enlarge 
their quorum commensurate with the vast design, 



472 LIFE OP JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

giving suitable Presidents of Stakes; while four 
hundred and thirty Seventies were also ordained, 
whose duty it became to go forth and preach the 
gospel and build up these stakes. 

These last designs of the Prophet were after his 
martyrdom invariably spoken of in Nauvoo as 
"Joseph's measures," which the Twelve constantly 
assured the Church they were about to carry out. 
That these measures would have obviated all neces- 
sity of an exodus from civilization (other causes 
and Church affairs corresponding) is very evident. 
They would have carried away from Nauvoo the 
Apostles and hundreds of leading Elders with their 
families. Nauvoo would soon have become simply 
what her name implied — the " Beautiful City," 
inhabited by a few thousand exemplary Christians, 
while all the ambition and force of the Elders could 
have been safely spent abroad in building up these 
Stakes of Zion. Their missionary success may be 
estimated by the results of one year's labor of the 
British Elders under Orson Pratt. Eighteen thou- 
sand converts are said to have been baptized in 
Great Britain in this year. Results comparable to 
this in the United States would have increased the 
numbers of the disciples in all the world to several 
million by the year 1880. The emigrations of the 
Saints from Europe to various States would have 
stimulated the British mission, not depeopled it, 
and the emigrational tide that flowed into America 
would have been esteemed as a blessing rather than 
as a Mormon curse in the land. There had then 
been no need of a general exodus of the Saints 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 473 

from civilized America, but much need of their 
examples and ministry among the nations, just so 
long as their Elders were truly working out a 
Millennial civilization. 

But already had the Elders sown the seeds of 
dissolution in the Church and given cause for the 
Lord's rejection of her as well as man's ; and after 
the Prophet's death those causes multiplied so rap- 
idly that it soon became impossible for the Twelve 
to carry out "Joseph's measures" in building up 
numerous Stakes of Zion in the United States. 
Let the truth be confessed that the Church fell from 
her righteousness, and the Lord rejected her. The 
Elders perverted their ways before the Lord, and 
He banished her not only from His own presence, 
but from the very presence of civilized man. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

AFFAIRS AT NAUVOO A POLITICAL CONVENTION 

THE VIPER CRUSHED ARRESTED AGAIN AT 

BAY NAUVOO UNDER MARTIAL LAW SPEECH 

TO THE LEGION ALONE IN GETHSEMANE. 

Notwithstanding the anticipated removal of the 
saints to the Pacific Coast, the Prophet threw a 
glory around the last days of Nauvoo worthy his 
character and genius. The "Beautiful City" was 
pushed forward with as much ambition and pains- 
taking as though the saints expected to remain. 
The temple was hurried forward to completion, that 
the elders might be endowed with more power from 
on high, while the missionary energy of the Elders 
began to be felt throughout America and Great 
Britain. And Congress, as we have seen, was be- 
sieged with apostolic petitions, urging the very 
nation on to her proper path of empire, with Joseph 
boldly offered as the Prophet leader of America. 

The fact was, the genius of Joseph was at that 
moment in its meridian strength. He was in his 
thirty-ninth year. The wonders of his life had been 
accomplished almost in his boyhood, or at least 
before manhood is expected to manifest gigantic 
character and all-conquering purposes. In this re- 
spect he very much resembled Alexander and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 475 

Napoleon. He died before the age at which Mo- 
hammed bewail his career, or at which Moses 
dreamt of delivering Israel. Next to his genius of 
inspiration, his force of character rises above that 
of any prophet-leader that has appeared in the 
world, and one is left to wonder if he had not 
shaken all human society had his Providence per- 
mitted him to live to the present time. 

But to return to current events : " Friday, April 
5th," says Joseph, " I attended the dedication of the 
Masonic Temple, which was attended by about 550 
members of the Masonic fraternity from various 
parts of the world. * * The building is admitted 
to be the most substantial and best finished Masonic 
Temple in the Western States." 

The next day was Conference, probably the larg- 
est held up to that date. In addressing the congre- 
gation, Joseph said: 

" The Great Jehovah has ever been with me, and 
the wisdom of God will direct me in the seventh 
hour. I feel in closer communion and better 
standing with God than ever I felt before in my 
life." 

As a unique of history it is proper to mention 
that on the 17th of May following a national con- 
vention met in Nauvoo, in the interest of the 
Prophet, as a candidate for the Presidency, and 
much enthusiasm was wrought up by the delegates, 
— who, by the way, were by no means exclusively 
from the city of Nauvoo, twenty-seven States being 
represented. 

But about this time also arose the most danger- 
ous conspiracy of apostates that had threatened the 



476 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

life of the Prophet. The seceders were not numer- 
ous, but they were headed by the brothers William 
and Wilson Law, — the latter having been Major- 
General of the Legion, — the Higbees, Fosters, and 
other formidable foes, who had been expelled from 
the church. These' sought to establish in Nauvoo 
an incendiary paper, called the Nauvoo Expositor ■ 
the avowed purpose of which was to stir up the 
people of Illinois to bring Joseph Smith " to justice 
for his crimes," and expel the saints from the State. 
It was like building the magazine of the enemy in 
the City of Refuge ; and so, after the issue of the 
first number of the Expositor, the Nauvoo City 
Council declared the paper a public nuisance and 
dangerous to the peace of the commonwealth ; and 
they thereupon ordered the office of the paper to be 
demolished by the Marshal and his posse. 

The following minute from Joseph's diary, imme- 
diately after the execution of the order, illustrates 
the state of feeling then prevalent : 

" At 2 o'clock p. m. I went into court. Many 
people were present. I talked an hour or two on 
passing events, the mob party, &c, and told the 
people I was ready to fight if the mob compelled 
me to, for I would not be in bondage. I asked the 
assembly if they would stand by me, and they cried 
'yes' from all quarters. I returned home." 

But the consequence of this act of the City Coun- 
cil was quickly developed in an order for the arrest 
of the members, which order of arrest was issued by 
one of the justices of the peace of Hancock County, 
and required that the several members be brought 
before him or some other justice of the peace, to 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 477 

answer to the charge of committing a riot in burn- 
ing and destroying the office of the Nauvoo Exposi- 
tor, "and further to be dealt with according to law," 

When the warrant was served upon him, the 
Prophet elected to go before some justice of the 
peace in Nauvoo, but the officer demanded that he 
should go to Carthage, whence the warrant issued ; 
whereupon he took out a writ of habeas corpus, 
which being duly tried before the Municipal Court, 
he was adjudged to have acted under proper author- 
ity in destroying the establishment of the Nauvoo 
Expositor, and was accordingly discharged. 

Excitement now ran very high, and reports of 
gathering mobs flew thick and fast. Joseph ac- 
cordingly wrote to Gov. Ford as follows : 

Nauvoo, III., June 16th, 1844. 
His Excellency, Thomas Ford. 

Sir: — I am informed from credible sources, as 
well as from the proceedings of a public meeting at 
Carthage, &c, as published in the Warsaw Signal 
extra, that an energetic attempt is being made by 
some of the citizens of this and the surrounding 
counties, to drive and exterminate " the saints " by 
force of arms ; and I send this information to your 
Excellency by a special messenger, Hugh McFall, 
Adjutant-General, Nauvoo Legion, who will give 
all particulars, and I ask at your hands immediate 
counsel and protection. 

Judge Thomas has been here and given his ad- 
vice in the case, which I shall strictly follow until I 
hear from your Excellency, and in all cases shall 
adhere to the Constitution and laws. 

The Nauvoo Legion is at your service to quell all 
insurrections and support the dignity of the com- 
mon weal. 



47^ LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

I wish, urgently wish, your Excellency to come 
down in person with your staff, and investigate the 
whole matter without delay, and cause peace to be 
restored to the country; and I know not but this 
will be the only means of stopping an effusion of 
blood. 

The information referred to above is before me 
by affidavit. 

I remain, sir, the friend of peace, and your Excel- 
lency's humble servant. 

Joseph Smith. 

On the same day (June 16th) Joseph received a 
message from Father Morley, who resided in another 
section of the county, stating that himself and 
brethren had been notified to either join the mob 
and proceed to Nauvoo to assist in arresting the 
Prophet, or give up their arms " and remain quiet 
until the fuss is over." 

Joseph seems now to have become thoroughly 
aroused, as witness his answer: 

Headquarters Nauvoo Legion, 
Nauvoo, June 16th, '44. 
Col. Isaac Morley. 

Sir: — In reply to yours of this date, you will 
take special notice of the movements of the mcb 
party that is stirring up strife and endeavoring to 
excite rebellion to the Government and destroy the 
saints, and cause all the troops of said Legion in 
your vicinity to be in readiness to act at a moment's 
warning; and if the mob shall fall upon the saints 
by force of arms, defend them at every hazard, un- 
less prudence dictate the retreat of the troops to 
Nauvoo, in which case the mob will not disturb 
your women and children ; and if the mob move 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 479 

towards Nauvoo, either come before them or in 
their rear, and be ready to co-operate with the main 
body of the Legion. Instruct the companies to 
keep cool, and let all things be done decently and 
in order. 

Give information by affidavit before a magistrate 
and special messengers to the Governor of what has 
occurred, and every illegal proceeding that shall be 
had on the subject, without delay. Also notify me 
of the same, and demand instruction and protection 
from the Governor. 

Joseph Smith, 
Lieut.-Gen., Nauvoo Legion. 

The Prophet's uncle, John Smith, having written 
him from Macedonia, 111., for counsel, he answered 
as follows : 

Nauvoo, June 17th, 1844. 
Uncle John. 

Dear Sir: — The brethren from Ramus arrived 
here this morning. We were glad to see them, and 
to hear that you were all alive in the midst of the 
ragings of an infatuated and bloodthirsty mob. I 
write these few lines to inform you that we feel 
determined in this place not to be dismayed if hell 
boils over all at once. We feel to hope for the 
best, and determined to prepare for the worst ; and 
we want this to be your motto in common with us, 
"That we will ne\er ground our arms until we give 
them up by death." " Free trade and sailors' rights, 
protection of persons and property, wives and fami- 
les. 

If a mob annoy you, defend yourselves to the very 
last; and if they fall upon you with a superior 
force, and you think you are not able to compete 
with them, retreat to Nauvoo. But we hope for 
better things. But remember, if your enemies do 



480 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE .PROPHET. 

fall upon you, be sure and take the best and most 
efficient measures the emergency of the case may 
require. 

Remember the front and rear of your enemies, 
because if they should come to Nauvoo to attack it 
unlawfully and by mob force, a little annoyance 
upon the rear with some bold fellows would be a 
very good thing to weaken the ranks of an enemy. 

It is impossible to give you correct information 
what to do beforehand ; but act according to the 
emergency of the case, but never give up your arms, 
but die first. 

The brethren will give you information of the 
conversation between us. We have sent to the 
Governor, and are about to send again, and we want 
you to send affidavits and demand the attention of 
the Governor, and request protection at his hand in 
common with the rest of us, that by our continual 
wearying we may get him to come in and investi- 
gate the whole matter. 

I now conclude with my best wishes, and must 
refer you to the brethren for further information. 

Joseph Smith. 

Still more important was his direction to his 
brother Hyrum to write the following to President 
Brigham Young, with a note from himself: 

Nauvoo, June 17th, 1844. 
Dear Brother B. Young. 

There has been for several days a great excite- 
ment among the inhabitants in the adjoining coun- 
ties. Mass meetings are held upon mass meeting, 
drawing up resolutions to utterly exterminate the 
saints. The excitement has been gotten up by the 
Laws, Fosters, and the Higbees, and they them- 
selves have left the city, and are engaged in the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 48 1 

mob. They have sent their runners into the State 
of Missouri to excite them to murder and blood- 
shed, and the report is that a great many hundreds 
of them will come over to take an active part in 
murdering the saints. The excitement is verv 
oreat indeed. 

o 

It is thought by myself and others for you to re- 
turn without delay, and the rest of the Twelve and 
all the Elders that have gone out from this place, 
and as many more £ood, faithful men as feel dis- 
posed to come up with them. Let wisdom be ex- 
ercised; and whatever they do, do it without a noise. 
You know we are not frightened, but think it best 
to be well prepared and be ready for the onset; and 
if it is extermination, extermination it is of course. 

Communicate to the others of the Twelve with as 
much speed as possible, with perfect stillness and 
calmness. A word to the wise is sufficient, and a 
little powder, lead, and a good rifle, can be packed 
in your luc^a^e verv easv without creating anv sus- 
picion. 

In haste, I remain yours in the firm bonds of the 
new and everlasting covenant, 

Hvrum Smith. 

Large bodies of armed men, cannon, and muni- 
tions of war are coming on from [Missouri in steam- 
boats. These facts are communicated to the Gov- 
ernor and President of the United States, and you 
will readily see that you will have to prepare for the 
onset. 

In the bonds of the new and everlasting cove- 
nant, I remain yours, 

Joseph Smith. 

The reader should bear in mind that not only the 
entire quorum of the Twelve, excepting John 
Taylor and Willard Richards, were scattered on 



482 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

mission in the States east, but that about five hun- 
dred of the ablest, strong-willed elders were also 
from home on the same campaign. To this fact, 
indeed, is largely to be ascribed the opportunity of 
the martyrdom. It was Brigham Young's repeated 
affirmation ever after the death of his chief, that 
had he, with the Twelve, been home, Joseph should 
not have been given up. 

On the same day (June 17th) the Prophet con- 
tinues, in his diary : 

" This morning I was arrested, together with 
Samuel Bennett, John Taylor, W. W. Phelps, Hy- 
rum Smith, J. P. Greene, Dimick B. Huntington, 
Jonathan Dunham, Stephen Markham, Jonathan 
H. Holmes, Jesse P. Harmon, John Lytle, Joseph 
W. Coolidge, David H. Redfield, O. P. Rockwell, 
and Levi Richards, by Constable Joel S. Miles, on 
a writ issued by Daniel H. Wells, on complaint of 
W. G. Ware, for a riot on the 10th inst., in destroy- 
ing the Nauvoo Expositor press. At 2 p. m. we all 
went before Justice Wells at his house, and after a 
lone and close examination, we were discharged." 

Also, on the same day, Stephen Markham made 
affidavit that, from sources that he considered trust- 
worthy, he learned that a mob might be expected 
to make an immediate attack upon Nauvoo, where- 
upon Joseph issued the following proclamation : 

Nauvoo, June 17th, 1844. 
To John P. Greene, Marshal of the City of 

Nauvoo, &c. 

Sir: — Complaint having been made to me on 
oath that a mob is collecting at sundry points to 
make an attack on this city, you will therefore take 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 483 

such measures as shall be necessary to preserve the 
peace of said city according to the provisions of 
the charter and the laws of the State, and with the 
police and Legion see that no violent act is com- 
mitted. Gen. Dunham is hereby instructed to 
co-operate with the Marshal in keeping the peace, 
according to law. 

Joseph Smith, Mayor. 



Also the followi 



ng: 



Headquarters Nauvoo Legion, 
Nauvoo, June 17th, 1844. 
To Maj.-Gen. Jonathan Dunham. 

Complaint having been made on oath that a mob 
is preparing to make an attack upon this city and 
citizens of Nauvoo, and having directed the Marshal 
to keep the peace, you are hereby commanded to 
order the Nauvoo Legion to be in readiness to 
assist said Marshal in keeping the peace, and doing 
whatever may be necessary to preserve the dignity 
of the State and city. 

Joseph Smith, Lieut.-Gen. 

He also promptly indicted another order to Gen. 
Dunham, instructing him to execute all orders of 
the Marshal, etc.; and an order to Col. Rockwood, 
to muster his personal guard and staff, "with pow- 
der and ball." 

On the 1 8th the Legion assembled according to 
orders, and in the afternoon of the same day the 
city was proclaimed under martial law, as follows : 

Mayor's Office, City of Nauvoo, ) 
June 1 8th, 1844. j 

To the Marshal of the City of Nauvoo. 

From the newspapers around us, and the current 
reports as brought in from the surrounding country, 



484 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

I have good reason to fear that a mob is organiz- 
ing to come upon this city and plunder and destroy 
said city, as well as murder the citizens ; and by 
virtue of the authority vested in me as Mayor, and 
to preserve the city and lives of the citizens, I do 
hereby declare the said city within the limits of its 
corporation under martial law. The officers, there- 
fore, of the Nauvoo Legion, the police, as well as 
all others, will strictly see that no persons or prop- 
erty pass in or out of the city without due 
orders. 

Joseph Smith, Mayor. 

During the afternoon of that day he also ad- 
dressed the Legion as follows : 

" It is thought by some that our enemies would 
be satisfied with my destruction, but I tell you that 
as soon as they have shed my blood they will thirst 
for the blood of every man in whose heart dwells a 
single spark of the spirit of the fullness of the gos- 
pel. The opposition of these men is moved by the 
spirit of the adversary of all righteousness. It is 
not only to destroy me, but every man and woman 
who dares believe the doctrines that God hath in- 
spired me to teach to this generation. 

" We have never violated the laws of our country. 
We have every right to live under their protection, 
and are entitled to all the privileges guaranteed by 
our State and national constitutions. W 7 e have 
turned the barren bleak prairies and swamps of this 
State into beautiful towns, farms and cities, by our 
industry; and the men who seek our destruction, 
and cry thief, treason, riot, &c, are those who them- 
selves violate the laws, steal and plunder from their 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 4S5 

neighbors, and seek to destroy the innocent, her- 
alding forth lies to screen themselves from the just 
punishment of their crimes by bringing destruction 
upon this innocent people. I call God, angels, and 
all men to witness that we are innocent of the 
charges which are heralded forth through the pub- 
lic prints against us by our enemies, And while 
they assemble together in unlawful mobs to take 
away our rights and destroy our lives, they think to 
shield themselves under the refuse of lies which 
they have thus wickedly fabricated. 
. " We have forwarded a particular account of all 
our doings to the Governor. We are ready to 
obey his commands, and we expect that protection 
at his hands which we know to be our just due. 

"We have taken the counsel of Judge Thomas, 
and have been tried before a civil magistrate on the 
charge of riot, not that the law required it, but be- 
cause the Judge advised it as a precautionary 
measure to allay all possible pretext for excitement. 
We were legally acquitted by Esquire W T ells, who 
is a good judge of law. Had we been before the 
circuit, the supreme, or any other court of law in 
the State or nation, we should have been acquitted, 
for we have broken no law. 

Constable Bettisworth comes here with a writ 
requiring us to go before Mr. Morrison, ' or some 
other justice of the peace of the county/ to answer 
to the charge of riot. We acknowledged ourselves 
his prisoners, and were ready to go before any mag- 
istrate in any precinct in this part of the county, or 
anywhere else where our lives could be protected 
from the mob who have published the resolutions 



486 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

for our extermination, which you have just heard 
read. This is a privilege the law guarantees to us, 
and which the writ itself allows. He breaks the 
law and refuses us this privilege, declaring that he 
shall go before Morrison in Carthage, and no one 
else, when he knew that a numerous mob were col- 
lected there who are publicly pledged to destroy our 
lives. 

" It was under these circumstances that we availed 
ourselves of the legal right of the ancient, high, and 
constitutional privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, 
and were brought before the municipal court of this 
city, and discharged from the illegal detention under 
which we were held by Constable Bettisworth. All 
mobmen, priests, thieves, and bogus makers, apos- 
tates and adulterers, who combine to destroy this 
people, now raise the hue and cry throughout the 
State that we resist the law, in order to raise a pre- 
text for calling together thousands more of infuri- 
ated mobmen to murder, destroy, plunder and ravish 
the innocent. 

" We are American citizens. We live upon a 
soil for the liberties of which our fathers periled 
their lives and spilt their blood upon the battle- 
field. Those rights, so dearly purchased, shall not 
be disgracefully trodden under foot by lawless 
marauders, without at least a noble effort on our 
part to sustain our liberties. 

''Will you all stand by me to the death, and sus- 
tain, at the peril of your lives, the laws of our 
country and the liberties and privileges which our 
fathers have transmitted unto us, sealed with their 
sacred blood? [' Aye,' shouted thousands.] It is 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 487 

well. If you had not done it I would have gone 
out there [pointing to the west], and would have 
raised up a mightier people. 

" I call upon all men, from Maine to the Rocky 
Mountains, and from Mexico to British America, 
whose hearts thrill with horror to behold the rights 
of freemen trampled under foot, to come to the de- 
liverance of this people from the cruel hand of 
oppression, cruelty, anarchy and misrule, to which 
they have long since been made subject. Come, all 
ye lovers of liberty, break the oppressor's rod, loose 
the iron grasp of mobocracy, and bring to condign 
punishment all those who trample under foot the 
principles of our glorious constitution and the peo- 
ple's rights. [Drawing his sword and presenting it 
to heaven] I call God and angels to witness that I 
have unsheathed my sword with a firm and unalter- 
able determination that this people shall have their 
legal rights, and be protected from mob violence, or 
my blood shall be spilt upon the ground like water, 
and my body consigned to the silent tomb. While 
I live I will never tamely submit to the dominion 
of cursed mobocracy. I would welcome death 
rather than submit to this oppression ; and it would 
be sweet, O, sweet to rest in the grave, rather than 
submit to this oppression, agitation, annoyance, con- 
fusion, and alarm upon alarm any longer. 

" I call upon all friends of truth and liberty to 
come to our assistance, and may the thunders of the 
Almighty, and the forked lightnings of heaven, and 
pestilence, and war, and bloodshed come down on 
those ungodly men who seek to destroy my life and 
the lives of this innocent people. 



488 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" I do not regard my own. life. I am ready to be 
offered a sacrifice for this people ; for what can our 
enemies do ? Only kill the body, and their power 
is then at an end. Stand firm, my friends ; never 
flinch. Do not seek to save your lives, for he that 
is afraid to die for the truth will lose eternal life. 
Hold out to the end, and we shall be resurrected 
and become like gods, and reign in celestial king- 
doms, principalities, and eternal dominions, while 
this cursed mob will sink to hell — the portion of all 
those who shed innocent blood. 

"God has tried you. 4 You are a good people; 
therefore I love you with all my heart. Greater 
love hath no man than that he should lay down his 
life for his friends. You have stood by me in the 
hour of trouble, and I am willing to sacrifice my 
life for your preservation. May the Lord God of 
Israel bless you forever and ever. I say it in the 
name of Jesus of Nazareth, and in the authority of 
the Holy Priesthood which he hath conferred upon 
me. 

On the 19th the Legion again assembled on the 
parade ground, and volunteers from Iowa and else- 
where joined them. Orders were issued, also, to 
picket all roads to the city and the river-bank, and 
all powder and lead in the city was secured, and 
surplus arms distributed. 

On the 20th Joseph, with Gen. Dunham and staff, 
went to the prairie to view the ground and devise 
plans for the defense of the city, and select the 
proper locations to meet the mob. He also wrote 
to President Tyler, inclosing an affidavit of Carlos 
W. Lyon, reciting that arms, ammunition and men 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 489 

were en route from St. Louis to Warsaw to reinforce 
the mob. 

It is also worthy of note that Joseph at this time 
desired his brother Hyrum to escape, and leave him 
to his fate. Says he : I advised my brother Hyrum 
to take his family on the next steamboat and go to 
Cincinnati. Hyrum replied, ' Joseph, I cannot leave 
you.' Whereupon I said to the company present, 
' I wish I could get Hyrum out of the way, so that 
he may live to lead the Church, and I will stay with 
you and see it out.' " 

On the 21st Gov. For^J arrived at Carthage, 
whence he dispatched a letter to the Mayor and 
Council of Nauvoo, inquiring as to the matters in 
controversy, that he might proceed understandingly. 
In answer to this a number of affidavits of leading 
citizens of Nauvoo were taken, setting forth the 
grievances under which they were laboring, their 
action in the premises, &c, which were promptly 
sent to the Governor on the same day. Other affi- 
davits were also prepared later in the day, to be 
submitted to the Governor on the following 
day. 

On the 22d Gov. Ford returned answer to the 
Mayor and Council, in which he took the ground 
that the Municipal Court had exceeded its authority 
in the matter of the destruction of the Expositor 
office, and that all persons originally named in the 
first warrant of Justice Morrison must appear before 
him (Morrison) for trial. He also intimated that 
he should, if necessary, employ the whole militia 
force of the State to enforce his decision in the 
matter, but counseled peaceful acquiescence, and 



490 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

pledged the safety of all who might be tried under 
the warrant, and their witnesses. 

To this Joseph made a pacific but argumentative 
answer, defending the action thus far taken, but 
closing with the affirmation, " We will make all 
things right if the Government will give us the op- 
portunity." 

The gentlemen who bore this reply to the Gov- 
ernor were unable to secure his candid examination 
of the questions at issue, and retired after a most 
unsatisfactory interview. 

Joseph thereupon resolved to proceed to Wash- 
ington and lay the case before President Tyler. 

Soon after dark, according to the record of that 
day [June 22d], Joseph called Hyrum, Willard 
Richards, John Taylor, W. W. Phelps, A. C. Hodge, 
John L. Butler, A. Cutler, William Marks, and 
some others, into his upper room, and said: " Breth- 
ren, here is a letter from the Governor [in answer 
to Joseph's last mentioned] which I wish to have 
read." After it was read through, Joseph remarked, 
"There is no mercy — no mercy here." Hyrum 
said, " No ; just as sure as we fall into their hards 
we are dead men." Joseph replied, "Yes; what 
shall we do, Brother Hyrum?" He replied, " I 
don't know." All at once Joseph's countenance 
brightened up, and he said: " The way is open. It 
is clear to my mind what to do. All they want is 
Hyrum and myself, then tell everybody to go about 
their business and not to collect in groups, but to 
scatter about. There is no doubt they will come 
here and search for us. Let them search ; they will 
not harm you in person nor property, and not even 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 49I 

a hair of your head. We will cross the river to- 
nieht, and oro awav to the West." He made a 
move to eo out oi the house to cross the river. 
When out of doors he told Butler and Hod^e to 
take the Maid of Iowa (in charge ot Repsher), get 
her to the upper landing, and put his and Hyrum's 
families and effects upon her, then to go down the 
Mississippi and up the Ohio River to Portsmouth, 
where they should hear from them. He then took 
Hodee bv the hand and said: "Now, Brother 
Hodge, let what will come, don't deny the faith, and 
ail will be well." 

" I told Stephen Markham," says Joseph, " that ' if 
I and Hvrum were ever taken a^ain, we should be 
massacred, or I was not a prophet of God." I want 
Hyrum to live to lead the Church, but he is deter- 
mined not to leave me. 7 ' 



Thus ends Josephs diary, the last thought of 
which is for his brother Hyrum. Too well he felt 
that his time was now come, but he essayed to save 
his beloved brother. His time had indeed come. 
And also, as though to point the parallel, the body 
of his apostles and a host of his chief elders had 
been sent away to leave him alone in his Gethse- 
mane= 



CHAPTER XLV. 

gem's from Joseph's last sermons — unique views 
and character sayings. 

Before presenting the final tragedy, let us gather, 
for contemplation, some of Joseph's immortal say- 
ings. 

Preaching on the subject of the Comforters, he 
said : 

There are two Comforters spoken of. The First 
Comforter is the Holy Ghost * * * Now what 
is this other Comforter? It is the Lord Jesus 
Christ himself. When any man obtains this last 
Comforter he will have the personage of Jesus 
Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time 
to time, and even he will manifest the Father unto 
him. They will take up their abode with him, and 
the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, 
and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he 
may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of 
the kingdom of God ; and this is the state and 
place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had 
such glorious visions: Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon 
the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heave'ns, 
and all the Saints who held communion with the 
general assembly of the Church of the First Born." 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 493 

In his sermon on the Ancient of Days, already 
quoted, he says : 

" The Saviour, Moses, and Elias, gave the keys 
of the Priesthood to Peter, James, and John, on the 
Mount, when they were transfigured before him. 
* * * How have we come at the Priesthood in 
the last days? It came down in regular succession. 
Peter, James, and John had it given to them, and 
they gave it to others." [Presumably referring to 
himself and Oliver Cowdery.] 

On the subject of continuous communion with 
heaven, he says: 

" Salvation cannot come without revelation ; it is 
in vain for any man to minister without it. No 
man is a minister of Jesus Christ without being a 
Prophet. No man can be a minister of Jesus Christ 
except he has the testimony of Jesus, and this is the 
spirit of prophecy." 

Of the personal companionship of the Ancients 
of various dispensations — the communion of the 
living with the dead — the following is illustrative: 

Abel magnified the Priesthood which was con- 
ferred upon him, and therefore has become an angel 
of God by receiving his body from the dead, holding 
still the keys of his dispensation ; and he was sent 
down from heaven unto Paul to minister consoling 
words and to commit unto him a knowledge of the 
mystery of godliness. And if this was not the case, 
I would ask how did Paul know so much about 
Abel, and why should he talk about his speaking 
after he was dead ? That he spoke after he was 
dead must be by being sent down out of heaven to 
minister." 



494 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

This of Enoch : " He is reserved also unto the 
presidency of a dispensation. He is a ministering 
angel, to minister to those who shall be heirs of 
salvation, and appeared unto Jude as Abel did unto 
Paul. Therefore Jude spoke of him — ' And Enoch, 
the seventh from Adam, revealed these sayings: 
Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his 
Saints.' Paul was also acquainted with Enoch." 

The patriarchal linking of these various dispen- 
sations the Prophet Joseph makes perfect, com- 
mencing with Adam, who was " the first to hold the 
spiritual blessings, to whom was made known the 
plan of ordinances for the salvation of his posterity 
unto the end, and to whom Christ was first revealed, 
and through whom Christ has been revealed from 
heaven, and will continue to be revealed henceforth. 
Adam holds the keys of the dispensation of the 
fullness of times, i. e. y the dispensation of all the 
times have been and will.be revealed through him, 
from the beginning to the end. * * * God pur- 
posed in himself that there should not be eternal 
fullness until every dispensation should be fulfilled 
and gathered together in one, and that all things 
whatsoever that should be gathered together in one 
in those dispensations unto the same fullness and 
eternal glory, should be in Christ Jesus ; therefore 
he set the ordinances to be the same forever and 
ever, and set Adam to watch over them, to reveal 
them from heaven to man, or to send angels to re- 
veal them: 'Are they not all ministering spirits, 
sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of 
salvation?' * * * This, then, is the nature of 
the Priesthood ; every man holding the presidency 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 495 

of his dispensation, and one man holding the presi- 
dency of them all, even Adam, who received his 
presidency and authority from the Lord, but cannot 
receive a fullness until Christ shall present the king- 
dom to the Father, which shall be at the end of the 
last dispensation." 

The unfolding of this perfect patriarchal order 
will enable the general reader to better understand 
the grand example of the Latter-day Saints in being 
baptized for their dead, which has been so often 
burlesqued by Gentile writers through their own 
poverty of comprehension of the subject. It is the 
theme which most occupied Joseph in his last days. 
In his address to the Church, while hiding from his 
enemies, September, 1842, he said: 

" I now resume the subject of the baptism for the 
dead, as that seems to occupy my mind and press 
itself upon my feelings the strongest since I have 
been pursued by my enemies. * * . •* 

" And now, my dearly beloved brethren and 
sisters, let me assure you that these are principles 
in relation to the dead and the living that cannot 
be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salva- 
tion. For their salvation is necessary and essen- 
tial to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the 
fathers 'that they without us cannot be made 
perfect ;' neither can we without our dead be made 
perfect. 

''And now, in relation to the baptism for the 
dead, I will give you another quotation of Paul, 1 
Corinthians, xv., 29, ' Else what shall they do which 
are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all; 
why are they then baptized for the dead.' 



496 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" And again, I will give you a quotation from one 
of the Prophets, who had his eye fixed on the res- 
toration of the Priesthood, the glories to be revealed 
in the last days, and in an especial manner this most 
glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting 
gospel, viz., the baptism of the dead, for Malachi 
says, ' Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet 
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of 
the Lord ; arid he shall turn the heart of the fathers 
to the children, and the heart of the children to 
their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a 
curse.' 

" I might have rendered a plainer translation to 
this, but it is sufficiently plain to suit my purpose as 
it stands. It is sufficient to know, in this case, that 
the earth will be smitten with a curse, unless there 
is a welding link of some kind or other between the 
fathers and the children, upon some subject or other, 
and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism 
for the dead. For we without them cannot be made 
perfect ; neither can they without us be made per- 
fect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect 
without those who have died in the gospel also ; for 
it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation 
of the fullness of times, which dispensation is now 
beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete 
and perfect union, and welding together of dispen- 
sations, and keys, and powers, and glories should 
take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam 
even to the present time ; and not only this, but 
those things. which never have been revealed from 
the foundation of the world, but have been kept hid 
from the wise and prudent, shall be revealed unto 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 497 

babes and sucklings in this the dispensation of the 
fullness of times." 

Thus it may be seen that baptism for the dead is 
not a silly ordinance performed by the Saints to 
"save" their relations and friends "by proxy," with- 
out any reference to the consent or condition of 
those concerned, but rather is it, in the view which 
the Prophet has presented, a grand w r elding of gen- 
erations and dispensations " upon some subject," 
bringing the "living and the dead" into the same 
"everlasting covenant." Notice that this "welding" 
of those who have obeyed the gospel in this age to 
those of relations who have passed away without 
obeying the gospel, also extends back to the right- 
eous fathers to whom the covenants were originally 
made. They are the prime actors. Their hearts 
are turned towards their children. Couple with this 
the view which the Prophet gives of the patriarchal 
action commencing with Adam. Speaking of the 
Ancients to whom the covenants were made and 
who held the keys of dispensations, he says : 

" These men are in heaven, but their children are 
on earth. Their bowels yearn over us. God sends 
down men for this reason (to weld the heavens and 
the earth). And the Son of Man shall send forth 
his angels, &c. All these authoritative characters 
will come down and join hand in hand in bringing 
about this work. * * Thus angels come down 
and combine together to gather their children. We 
cannot be made perfect without them, nor they 
without us. When these things are done the Son 
of Man will descend, the Ancient of Days sit. We 
may come to an innumerable company of angels, 

3 2 



498 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

have communion with and receive instruction from 
them." 

This subject is also connected with that of preach- 
ing the gospel to the dead, as may be seen in the fol- 
lowing gems of universal gospel culled from an 
article in his history headed "Baptism for the Dead:" 

" The great designs of God in relation to the sal- 
vation of the human family are very little under- 
stood. * * * While one portion of the human 
race are judging and condemning the other without 
mercy, the Great Parent of the universe looks upon 
the whole of the human family with a fatherly care 
and paternal regard. He views them as his off- 
spring, and without any of those contracted feelings 
that influence the children of men, causes his sun 
to rise on the evil and the good, and sends his rai7i 
on the just and unjust. He holds the reins of judg- 
ment in his hands, and will judge all men ' accord- 
ing to the deeds done in the body whether they be 
good or evil,' or whether these deeds were done in 
England, America, Spain, Turkey, or India. He 
will judge them, not according to what they have 
not, but according to what they have. Those who 
have lived without law will be judged without law, 
and those who have a law will be judged by that 
law. He will award judgment or mercy to all na- 
tions according to their several deserts, their means 
of obtaining intelligence, &c; and when the designs 
of God shall be made manifest, and the curtain of 
futurity be withdrawn, we shall all of us eventually 
have to confess that the Judge of all the earth has 
done right. 

" The situation of the Christian nations after 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 499 

death is a subject that has called forth all the wis- 
dom and talent of the philosopher and the divine, 
and it is an opinion which is generally received that 
the destiny of man is irretrievably fixed at his death, 
and that he is either made eternally happy or eter- 
nally miserable ; that if a man dies without a knowl- 
edge of God he must be eternally damned, without 
any mitigation of his punishment, alleviation of his 
pain, or the most latent hope of a deliverance while 
endless ages shall roll along. However orthodox 
this may be, we shall find that it is at variance with 
the testimony of holy writ, for our Saviour says, 
'that all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be for- 
given men wherewith they shall blaspheme ; but the 
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be for- 
given, neither in this world nor in the world to cornel 
evidently showing that there are sins which may be 
forgiven in the world to come, although the sin of 
blasphemy cannot be forgiven. Peter, also, in 
speaking concerning our Saviour, says that ' he 
went and preached unto the Spirits in prison, which 
sometime were disobedient, when once the long 
suffering of God waited in the days of Noah.' 
Here then we have an account of our Saviour 
preaching to the Spirits in prison. And what did 
he preach to them ? That they were to stay there ? 
Certainly not ! Let his own declaration testify. 
' He hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to 
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering 
of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that 
are bruised.' Luke iv., 18. Isaiah has it — 'To 
bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them 
that sit in darkness from the prison house.' * * 



500 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" It is common for many of our orthodox preach- 
ers to suppose that if a man is not what they call 
converted, if he dies in that state he must remain 
eternally in hell without any hope ; infinite years in 
torment must he spend, and never, never, never 
have an end. And yet this eternal misery is made 
frequently to rest upon the merest casualty. The 
breaking of a shoe-string, the tearing of a coat of 
those officiating, or the peculiar location in which a 
person lives, may be the means, indirectly, of his 
damnation, or the cause of his not being saved. I 
will suppose a case which is not extraordinary. 
Two men who have been equally wicked, who have 
neglected religion, are both of them taken sick at 
the same time. One of them has the good fortune 
to be visited by a praying man, and he gets con- 
verted a few minutes before he dies. The other 
sends for three different praying men ; they none of 
them can go in time. The man dies and goes to 
hell. One of these is exalted to Abraham's bosom. 
He sits down in the presence of God and* enjoys 
eternal uninterrupted happiness, while the other 
who was equally as good as he, sinks to eternal 
damnation and hopeless despair, because the pray- 
ing man had a boot to mend, or the buttonhole of a 
coat to work, or a handle to solder on to a sauce- 
pan. 

"The plans of Jehovah are not so unjust. * * 
If human laws award to each man his deserts, and 
punish all delinquents according to their crimes, 
surely the Lord will not be more cruel than man: 
* * * To say that the heathen would be damned 
because they did not believe the gospel, would be 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 5OI 

preposterous ; and to say that the Jews would all be 
damned that do not believe in Jesus, would be 
equally absurd. * * * 

" And now as the great purposes of God are 
hastening to their accomplishment, and the things 
spoken of in the Prophets are fulfilling, as the king- 
dom of God is established on the earth, and the 
ancient order of things restored, the Lord has man- 
ifested to us this duty and privilege, and we are 
commanded to be baptized for our dead, thus ful- 
filling the words of Obadiah, when speaking of the 
glory of the latter day : 'And Saviours shall come 
up upon Mount Zion to judge, the remnant of Esau, 
and the kingdom shall be the Lord's.' A view of 
these things reconciles the Scriptures, justifies the 
ways of God to man, places the human family upon 
an equal footing, and harmonizes with every princi- 
ple of righteousness, justice and truth. We will 
conclude with the words of Peter: ' For, for this 
cause was the gospel preached also to them that are 
dead, that they might be judged according to men 
in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit/" 

Thus may it be understood that baptism for the 
dead is but one of the provisions of a grand and 
everlasting economy, that it is connected with the 
preaching of the gospel to the spirit world and a 
general salvation of the whole human family, with 
the exception of those who sin against the Holy 
Ghost, and the welding of the patriarchal links of 
the heavens and the earth, in the which work "the 
angels come down and combine for the gathering of 
'their children." 

It was in contemplation of this very subject that 



502 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Joseph declared that one hundred and forty and 
four thousand Saviors would stand upon Mount 
Zion in the midst of angelic hosts that no man can 
number, and these he has identified with the one 
hundred and forty-four thousand whom John saw 
who" "follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." 
Thus vast and continuous is the work of salvation, 
both of the " living and the dead," as presented 
in the Prophet's revelations of the Fathers ever- 
lasting plan and the ministry of his Son Jesus 
Christ. 

Taking the keys which he has given in his own 
mission, we can easrly comprehend why his time 
had now come, why he had said he should not be 
" offered up " till his work on earth was done, with 
his startling affirmation," " Then I shall be offered 
up freely! " 

Joseph was needed behind the vail ! All the 
keys of the dispensation of the fullness of times had 
been committed to him — the keys for the dead as 
well as for the living. Archangels of dispensations 
there awaited him to open the dispensation in the 
Spirit world and preach the gospel to the dead. "It 
needs be that offences come, but woe to them by 
whom they come," was still the law; yet was Joseph 
zvanted home to begin the other half of his ministry. 
Thus viewed, we can better comprehend his latter 
sermons and inspirations, and the foreshadowings 
of his death by the Spirit within him, that well 
knew he would be "offered up" for the very accom- 
plishment of his mission to the living and the dead. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 503 

But in the mighty sweep of the crowning ser- 
mons of his life we must not overlook the more 
miscellaneous gems and striking sayings. Here is 
one for America, like the sound of an archangel's 
trump : 

" I w r ant to make a proclamation to the Elders. 
You know very well that the Lord has led this 
church by revelation. I have now another revela- 
tion — a grand and glorious revelation. I shall not 
be able to dwell as largely upon it as at some other 
time, but I will give you the first principles. You 
know there has been a great discussion in relation 
to Zion, where it is, and where the gathering of the 
dispensation is, which I am now going to tell you. 
The Prophets have spoken and written upon it, but 
I will make a proclamation that will cover a broad- 
er ground. The whole of America is Zion itself, 
from north to south, and is described by the 
Prophets, who declare that it is the Zion, where the 
mountain of the Lord should be, and that it should 
be in the centre of the land. When the Elders will 
take up and examine the old prophecies in the Bible 
they will see it." 

Here are other striking passages from his last 
sermons: 

" Every man who has a calling to minister to the 
inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very 
purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this 
world was. I suppose that I was ordained to this 
very office in that Grand Council." 

"I calculate to be one of the instruments of set- 
ting up the kingdom of Daniel by the word of the 
Lord, and I intend to lay a foundation that will 
revolutionize the whole world. It will not be by 



504 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

sword or gun that the kingdom will roll on. The 
power of truth is such that all nations will be under 
the necessity of obeying the gospel." 

"Had I inspiration, revelation, and lungs to com- 
municate what my soul has contemplated in times 
past, there is not a soul in this congregation but 
would go to their homes and shut their mouths in 
everlasting silence on religion till they had learned 
something." 

"That which hath been hid from before the foun- 
dation of the world is revealed to babes and suck- 
lings in the last days. *■• * * 

"Angels desire to look into these mysteries." 

No prophet or master of theology ever so em- 
phatically taught his Church that knowledge was 
absolutely necessary to salvation. 

"Knowledge saves a man, and in the world of 
spirits no man can be exalted but by knowledge!" 

"The first key of exaltation is knowledge!" He 
taught that "intelligence is the pathway up to God.'' 

The Masters of Greece could not have opened a 
better system of theology than Joseph did, nor 
Socrates nor Plato have laid a broader foundation 
for a philosophic church. Plato's master taught his 
disciples, " Ignorance is vice !" Joseph that "knowl- 
edge" is the first step of the ladder to heaven! 
Here are his own footsteps upward: 

"Paul knew a man who had been caught up to 
the third heaven and saw and heard things unlaw- 
ful to be uttered. I know a man who was caught 
up to the seventh heaven, and saw and heard things 
unlawful to be uttered." 

Here another on the same: 

" Paul ascended three steps of Jacob's ladder ! " 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 505 

What a ladder to heaven Jacob's must be if Paul 
ascended but three steps ! 

This a command to his disciples : 

11 Seek wisdom from the best books ! " 

Indeed, none can be wise disciples of Joseph who 
are not drinking deep at the fountain of knowledge. 

Here is a key which he giVes of the nature and 
life of a Prophet : 

" I visited with a brother and sister from Michi- 
gan who thought that ' a Prophet is always a 
Prophet, ' but I told them a Prophet was a Prophet 
only when acting as such ! " 

This is one of his characteristic proverbs : 

" For a man to be great he must not dwell upon 
small things, though he may enjoy them." 

His character points and personal majesty must 
also be touched. 

He was six feet tall ; his structure the very type 
of might, physically, and his organization akin spir- 
itually. He was as courageous as a lion, and as 
daring as courageous. 

For example, what character-marks are these : 

"I am the Buckler of Jehovah ! " 

" He that runneth against me will find that he is 
running against Jehovah's buckler ! " 

Still, Joseph was most child-like, while his tender- 
ness was as exquisite as his love for the brotherhood 
was boundless. He would play with the boys of 
the Elders, and bless them in the intervals of the 
game with prophetic words of their future as min- 
isters of Christ among the nations ; and he would 
wrestle with the brethren in the evening after a hard 
day's labor. 



506 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

But the supreme feature in Joseph's character was 
his love for his people. Not only was he ever ready 
to die for his people, as well as live for them, with 
the irresistible force of love in him to make them 
all feel that fact, but even his more homely actions 
and impulses were quite as suggestive that the soul 
of brotherhood was incarnated in him. Instance 
the following example : 

At dinner, at home with one of the brethren, he 
was remarking " what a kind, provident wife " he 
had. " At this moment," he says, "Emma came in, 
while Phelps, in continuation of the conversation, 
said, 'You must do as Bonaparte did — have a little 
table just large enough for yourself,'" (for the table 
was loaded with good things as for a company, and 
the pleasantry of the Prophet an appreciative tribute 
to his wife, who catching up the conversation, ob- 
served) : 

" Mr. Smith is a bigger man than Bonaparte — he 
can never eat without his friends." 

" I remarked," he adds, " that is the wisest thing 
I ever heard you say." 

The example is homely, but telling. He was not 
so much gratified that he was greater than Napo- 
leon for deeds of sounding fame, but greater that 
he could not with self-satisfaction partake of any- 
thing which his brethren did not amply share. A 
world was not too large to divide with them, nor a 
table too small. 

The last parting between Joseph and the Twelve, 
when he sent the majority of them away, was deeply 
pathetic, full of unspoken words — a very prophecy 
of the coming event which was soon to clothe the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 507 

Church in mourning. In the scene of parting with 
Wilford Woodruff and others, that Apostle says : 
"Joseph looked upon me long and mournfully. I 
shall never forget his look. It was as though he 
was bidding us an eternal farewell ! " 

Joseph and the Apostles were indeed parting to 
meet no more till the glorious day of their immor- 
tality dawned. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

THE ESCAPE FROM NAUVOO VOLUNTARY RETURN 

"WE ARE GOING BACK TO BE SLAUGHTERED" 

THE JOURNEY TO CARTHAGE JOSEPH AND HY- 

RUM ARRESTED FOR TREASON COMMITTED TO 

JAIL SUPINENESS OF GOV. FORD. 

As already shown, there is some inharmony in the 
records of the Utah Church historians concerning 
the closing intentions of Joseph's life. All is shap- 
ed to connect his sayings and purposes with a gen- 
eral hegira to the Rocky Mountains, and in the 
historian, Willard Richards' own minute for the 
23rd of June, Joseph is made to order horses for 
himself and brother to start at once to the Moun- 
tains; but the letters of the Prophet to his wife, 
(one of this date) which since her death have come 
into the possession of her son Joseph prove this 
minute to be incorrect. Here is a letter actually 
sent by the messenger who is said to have carried 
that " order " for the horses : 

Safety, June 23. 
Emma Smith : 

Brother Lewis has some money of mine. H. C. 
Kimball has $1000 in hands of mine. Bro. Neff, 
Lancester Co. Pa. $400. 

You may sell the Ouincy Property, or any prop- 
erty that belongs to me that you can find anything 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 509 

about, for your support and children and mother. 
Do not despair. If God ever opens a door that is 
possible for me, I will see you again. I do not 
know where I shall go, or what I shall do, but shall, 
if possible endeavor to get to the city of Washing- 
ton. 

May God Almighty bless you and the children 
and mother and all my friends. My heart bleeds. 
No more at present. 

If you conclude to go to Kirtland, Cincinnati, or 
any other place, I wish you would contrive to in- 
form me this evening. 

Joseph Smith. 

P.S. — If in your power, I want you should help 
Dr. Richards' family. 

It is fortunate for the proof of history that this 
letter is evidently in the hand writing of Willard 
Richards himself, and signed by Joseph ; while 
"Willard's" compilation of history was made years 
afterwards in Utah. 

If possible Joseph was going to the city of Wash- 
ington to plead with the rulers of the nation. Those 
horses were ordered for the east not the west ; and 
therefore he counsels Emma also to make for the 
east with his family, including his mother. This let- 
ter gives a common sense aspect to Joseph's move- 
ments and restores history to its integrity. The 
picture of the Prophet with a small troop of horse- 
men flying to the Rocky Mountains, while the 
Apostles and hundreds of the Elders from Nauvoo 
are away in every state on an extraordinary campaign 
presenting their Prophet to the nation as a fitting 
President of the United States, is most incongruous. 
It bears no comparison with Mohammed's flight 



5IO LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

from Mecca to Medina to be met by troops of war- 
rior disciples and borne into the city in triumph, 
beginning his reign as an imperial Prophet. But 
Joseph with his brother Hyrum, secretary Richards, 
and guard, Porter Rockwell, setting out for Wash- 
ington, expecting to meet the Apostles and five 
hundred Elders at some grand rendezvous in the 
east is a truly consistent picture; and yet, until 
Joseph's letter came to light, Willard Richards' 
diary minute has stood as the historical fact, super- 
ior to an author's private judgment, for Willard 
Richards was the witness in the case; this letter in 
his own hand writing now corrects him. 

But as the following verbatim collation made by 
the Church authorities of Utah is the only circum- 
stantial narrative extant, the author of necessity 
must give it with the above explanation and cor- 
rection. 

"June 22, 1844. About 9 p. m. Hyrum came out 
of the mansion and gave his hand to Reynolds 
Cahoon, at the same time saying, ' A company of 
men are seeking to kill my brother Joseph, and the 
Lord has warned him to flee to the Rocky Moun- 
tains to save his life. Good-bye, Brother Cahoon, 
we shall see you again.' In a few moments after- 
wards Joseph came from his family. His tears 
were flowing fast. He held a handkerchief to his 
face, and followed after brother Hyrum without 
uttering a word. * * * 

"At about midnight Joseph, Hyrum, and Dr. 
Richards called for O. P. Rockwell at his lodgings 
and all went up the river bank until they found 
Aaron Johnson's boat, which they got into and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 51 I 

started about 2 A. M. to cross the Mississippi River. 
O. P. Rockwell rowed the skiff, which was very 
leaky, so that it kept Joseph, Hyrum and the Doctor 
busy baling out the water with their boots and shoes 
to prevent it from sinking. 

" Sunday, 23d. At daybreak arrived on the Iowa 
side of the river. Sent O. P. Rockwell back to 
Xauvoo with instructions to return the next night 
with horses for Joseph and Hyrum, pass them over 
the river in the night secretly, and be ready to start 
for the Great Basin in the Rocky Mountains. * * 

''At 1 p. M. Emma sent over O. P. Rockwell, re- 
questing him to entreat of Joseph to come back. 
Reynolds Cahoon accompanied him with a letter 
which Emma had written to the same effect, and 
she insisted that Cahoon should persuade Joseph to 
come back and give himself up. When they went 
over they found Joseph, Hyrum and Willard in a 
room by themselves, having flour and other pro- 
visions on the floor ready for packing. 

" Reynolds Cahoon informed Joseph what the 
troops intended to do, and urged upon him to give 
himself up, inasmuch as the Governor had pledged 
his faith and the faith of the State to protect him 
while he underwent a legal and fair trial. Reynolds 
Cahoon, L. D. Wasson and Hiram Kimball accused 
Joseph of cowardice for wishing to leave the peo- 
ple, adding that their property w T ould be destroyed, 
and they left without house or home — like the 
fable, when the wolves came the shepherd ran from 
the flock, and left the sheep to be devoured. To 
which Joseph replied, ' If my life is of no value to 
my friends, it is of none to myself.' 



512 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

"Joseph said to Rockwell, 'What shall I do?' 
Porter replied, ' You are the oldest, and ought to 
know best; and as you make your bed I will lay 
with you/ Joseph then turned to Hyrum, who was 
talking with Cahoon, and said, 'Brother Hyrum, 
you are the oldest, what shall we do ?' Hyrum said, 
' Let us go back and give ourselves up, and see the 
thing out.' After studying a few moments Joseph 
said, ' If you go back I shall go with you, but we 
shall be butchered.' Hyrum said, ' No, no ; let us 
go back and put our trust in God, and we shall not 
be harmed. The Lord is in it. If we live or have 
to die, we will be reconciled to our fate.' 

" After a short pause Joseph told Cahoon to re- 
quest Captain Daniel C. Davies to have his boat 
ready by half past five o'clock, to cross them over 
the river. * * * 

"About 4 p. M.Joseph, Hyrum, the Doctor and 
others started back. While walking towards the 
river Joseph fell behind with O. P. Rockwell. The 
others shouted to him to come on. Joseph replied, 
' It is of no use to hurry, for we are going back to 
be slaughtered.' * * They re-crossed the river at 
half past five. When they arrived at his mansion 
in Nauvoo Joseph's family surrounded him, and he 
tarried there all night. * * * 

" Monday, 24th. * * Governor Ford having 
sent word by the posse that those eighteen persons 
[Joseph, Hyrum, and the others included in Morri- 
son's original warrant] should be protected by the 
militia of the State, they, upon the assurance of that 
pledge, at half past six a. m., started for Carthage, 
Willard Richards, Daniel Jones, Henry G. Sherman, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 513 

Alfred Randall, James Davis, Cyrus H. Wfreelock, 
A. C. Hodge, and several other brethren, together 
with James W. Woods as counsel, accompanying 
them. * * * 

81 Joseph paused when they got to the temple, and 
looked with admiration first on that and then on 
the city, and remarked, ' This is the loveliest place 
and the best people under the heavens.' As he 
passed out of the city he called on Daniel H. Wells, 
Esq., who was unwell, and on parting he said, 
'Squire Wells, I wish you to cherish my memory, 
and not think me the worst man in the world 
either.' 

" At ten minutes to ten a. m. they arrived at Al- 
bert G. Fellows' farm, four miles west of Carthage, 
where they met Captain Dunn with a company of 
about sixty mounted militia, on seeing which Jo- 
seph said, 'Do not.be alarmed, brethren, for they 
cannot do more to you than the enemies of truth 
did to the ancient saints — they can only kill the 
body.' The company made a halt, when Joseph, 
Hyrum and several others went into Fellows' house 
with Captain Dunn, who presented an order from 
Governor Ford for all the State arms in possession 
of the Nauvoo Legion, which Joseph immediately 
countersigned. * * 

"Captain Dunn requested the company to return 
to Nauvoo to assist in collecting the arms, and 
pledged his word, as a military man, that Joseph 
Smith and his friends should be protected even if it 
were at the expense of his own life, and his men 
responded to that pledge by three cheers. * * 

"Joseph and his company then returned with 

33 



514 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Captain Dunn, and arrived in Nauvoo at half past 
two p. m. * * 

" When the fact of the order for the State arms 
was known in Nauvoo, many of the brethren looked 
upon it as another preparation for a Missouri mas- 
sacre ; nevertheless, as Joseph requested that it 
should be complied with, they very unwillingly gave 
up the arms. * * 

" The company (about fifteen) then [six p. m.] 
started again for Carthage, and when opposite to 
the Masonic Hall Joseph said, ' Boys, if I don't 
come back take care of yourselves ; I am going 
like a lamb to the slaughter/ * * 

" The company arrived at Fellows' house, four 
miles west of Carthage, about nine p. m., where they 
stopped about half an hour and partook of such 
refreshments as they had brought with them. Capt. 
Dunn and his company of mounted militia return- 
ing with the State arms from Nauvoo, joined them 
here and escorted them into Carthage, where they 
arrived at five minutes before twelve at night,' and 
went to Hamilton's tavern. * * 

" Next morning the prisoners voluntarily surren- 
dered themselves to the constable, Mr. Bettisworth, 
who held the writ against them. * * 

"Tuesday, 25th. At eight a. m. President Smith 
had an interview with Wm. G. Flood, of Ouincy, . 
U. S. Receiver of Public Moneys. While in con- 
versation with him Constable Bettisworth arrested 
Joseph for treason against the State of Illinois. 
* * Hyrum Smith was also arrested at the same 
time for treason. * * 

" Several of the officers of the troops in Carthage, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 5 1 5 



and other gentlemen, curious to see the Prophet, 
and to gratify a propensity to see the elephant, 
visited Joseph in his room. Gen. Smith asked 
them if there was anything in his appearance that 
indicated he was the desperate character his ene- 
mies represented him to be. and he asked them to 
give him their honest opinion on the subject. The 
reply was, ' Xo, sir. Your appearance would indi- 
cate the very contrary, Gen. Smith, but we cannot 
see what is in your heart, neither can we tell what 
are your intentions.' To which Joseph replied: 
' Very true, gentlemen, you cannot see what is in 
my heart, and you are therefore unable to judge me 
or my intentions ; but I can see what is in your 
hearts, and will tell you what I see. I can see you 
thirst for blood, and nothing but my blood will sat- 
isfy you. It is not for crime of any description that 
I and my brethren are thus continually persecuted 
and harrassed by our enemies, but there are other 
motives, and some of them I have expressed, so far 
as relates to myself; and inasmuch as you and the 
people thirst for blood, I prophesy, in the name of 
the Lord, that you shall witness scenes of blood and 
sorrow to your entire satisfaction. Your souls shall 
be perfectly satiated with blood, and many of you 
who are now present shall have an opportunity to 
face the cannon's mouth from sources you think not 
of; and those people that desire this great evil upon 
me and mv brethren, shall be filled with regret and 
sorrow because of the scenes of desolation and dis- 
tress that await them. They shall seek for peace, 
and shall not be able to find it. Gentlemen, you 
will find what I have told vou to be true.' * * 



516 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

"Joseph, Hyrum and thirteen others were taken 
before Robert F. Smith, a justice of the peace re- 
siding in Carthage (he being also captain of the 
Carthage Greys), on the charge of riot in destroy- 
ing the printing press of the Nauvoo Expositor. 
[Whereupon they gave bonds for their ap- 
pearance at the next term of the Circuit Court, and 
the justice adjourned court without taking up the 
charge of treason against Joseph and Hyrum.] 

" At eight, Constable Bettisworth appeared at the 
lodgings of J oseph and Hyrum, and insisted that they 
should go to jail. [The officer exhibited a mittimus 
from Justice Smith, which he had given without 
having the prisoners brought before him for exam- 
ination.] * * Joseph remonstrated against such 
barefaced, illegal and tyrannical proceedings, but the 
constable still insisted that they should go to jail. 

"Elder John Taylor says: 'As I was informed 
of this illegal proceeding, I went immediately to the 
Governor and informed him of it. Whether he was 
apprised of it before or not I do not know, but my 
opinion is that he was. I represented to him the 
character of the parties who had made oath, the 
outrageous nature of the charge, the indignity 
offered to men in the position which they occupied, 
and that he knew very well that it was a vexatious 
prosecution, and that they were not guilty of any 
such thing. 

" ' The Governor replied that he was very sorry 
that the thing had occurred; that he did not believe 
the charges, but that he thought that the best thing 
to be done in the premises was to let the law take 
its course. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 517 

'" I then reminded him that we had come out 
there at his instance, not to satisfy the law, which 
we had done before, but the prejudices of the peo- 
ple, in relation to the affair of the press; that we 
had given bonds, which we could not by law be re- 
quired to do, to satisfy the people, at his instance, 
and that it was asking too much to require gentle- 
men in their position in life to suffer the degrada- 
tion of being immured in a jail at the instance of 
such worthless scoundrels as those who had made 
this affidavit.' [The one because of which they 
were held for treason.] 

" ' The Governor replied that it was an unpleasant 
affair, and looked hard, but that it was a matter 
over which he had no control, as it belonged to the 
judiciary; that he, as the Executive, could not in- 
terfere with their proceedings, and that he had no 
doubt but that they would be immediately dismissed. 

'" I told him that we had looked to him for pro- 
tection from such insults, and that I thought we had 
a right to do so from the solemn promises he had 
made to me and Dr. Bernhisel in relation to our 
coming without a guard or arms; that we had relied 
upon his faith, and had a right to expect him to 
fulfill his engagements after we had placed ourselves 
implicitly under his care and complied with all his 
requests, although extrajudicial. 

'" He replied that he would detail a guard if we 
required it, and see us protected, but that he could 
not interfere with the judiciary. 

" ' I expressed my dissatisfaction at the course 
taken, and told him that if we were to be subject to 
mob rule, and to be dragged contrary to law into 



5 18 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

prison at the instance of every infernal scoundrel 
whose oaths could be bought for a dram of whiskey, 
his protection availed very little, and we had mis- 
calculated his promises. 

"'Seeing there was no prospect of redress from 
the Governor, I returned to the room and found the 
constable Bettisworth very urgent to hurry brothers 
Joseph and Hyrum to prison, whilst the brethren 
were remonstrating with him. 

"'At the same time a great rabble was gathered 
in the streets and around the door, and from the 
rowdyism manifested I was afraid there was a de- 
sign to murder the prisoners on the way to the jail. 

" ' Without conferring with any person, my next 
feeling was to procure a guard, and seeing a man 
habited as a soldier in the room, I went to him and 
said, " I am afraid there is a design against the 
lives of the Messrs. Smith. Will you go immedi- 
ately and bring your captain, and, if not convenient, 
any other captain of a company, and I will pay you 
well for your trouble." 

" ' He said he would, and departed forthwith, and 
soon returned with his captain, whose name I have 
forgotten, and introduced him to me. I told him of 
my fears, and requested him immediately to fetch 
his company. He departed forthwith, and arrived 
at the door with them just at the time that the con- 
stable was hurrying the brethren down stairs. 

"'A number of the brethren went along, and one 
or two strangers, and all of us, safely lodged in 
prison, remained there during the night.' 

"June 26th, 9:27 a. m. The Governor, in com- 
pany with Col. Geddes, arrived at the jail, when a 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 519 

lengthy conversation was entered into in relation to 
the existing difficulties ; and after some preliminary 
remarks, at the Governor's request Brother Joseph 
gave him a general outline of the state of affairs in 
relation to our difficulties, the excited state of the 
country, the tumultuous, mobocratic movements of 
our enemies, the precautionary measures used by 
himself (Joseph Smith), the acts of the City Coun- 
cil, the destruction of the press, and the moves of 
the mob and ourselves up to that time. 

"The Governor left [at 10:30 a. m.] after saying 
that the prisoners were urider his. protection, and 
again pledging himself that they should be pro- 
tected from violence, and telling them that if the 
troops marched the next morning to Nauvoo, as he 
then expected, they should probably be taken along 
in order to insure their personal safety. * * 

"While Joseph was writing at the jailor's desk, 
William Wall stepped up, wanting to deliver a ver- 
bal message to him from his uncle John Smith- 
He turned around to speak to Wall, but the guard 
refused to allow them any communication. * * 

"Joseph remarked, ' I have had a good deal of 
anxiety about my safety since I left Nauvoo, which 
I never had before when I was under arrest. I 
could not help those feelings, and they have de- 
pressed me.' * * 

" The Prophet, Patriarch and their friends took 
turns preaching to the guards, several of whom 
were relieved before their time was out because 
they admitted they were convinced of the innocence 
of the prisoners. They frequently admitted they 
had been imposed upon, and more than once it was 



520 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

heard, ' Let us go home, boys, for I will not fight 
any longer against these men.' 

" During the day Hyrum encouraged Joseph to 
think that the Lord, for his church's sake, would 
release him from prison. Joseph replied, 'Could 
my brother Hyrum but be liberated, it would not 
matter so much about me.' * * 

" 2:30. Constable Bettisworth came with Alex- 
ander Simpson and wanted to come in with an order 
to the jailor demanding the prisoners, but as Mr 
Stigall, the jailor, could find no law authorizing a 
justice of the peace to demand prisoners committed 
to his charge, he refused to give them up until dis- 
charged from his custody by due course of law. * * 

" 20 minutes to 4. Upon the refusal of the jailor 
to give up the prisoners, the constable, with the 
company of Carthage Greys, under the command 
of Frank Worrill, marched to the jail, and, by 
intimidation and threats, compelled the jailor, 
against his will and conviction of duty, to deliver 
Joseph and Hyrum to the constable, who forthwith 
and contrary to their wishes, compulsorily took 
them. 

"Joseph, seeing the mob gathering and assuming 
a threatening aspect, concluded it best to go with 
them, and putting on his hat, walked boldly into 
the midst of a hollow square of the Carthage Greys, 
yet evidently expecting to be massacred in the 
streets before arriving at the court house, politely 
locked arms with the worst mobocrat he could see, 
and Hyrum locked arms with Joseph, followed by 
Dr. Richards, and escorted by a guard. Elders 
Taylor, Jones, Markham and Fullmer followed 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 52 1 

outside the hollow square, and accompanied them 
to the court room. * * 

"On motion of counsel for the prisoners examina- 
tion was postponed till to-morrow at 12 o'clock, 
noon, and subpoenas were granted to get witnesses 
from Nauvoo, twenty miles distant, whereupon the 
prisoners were remanded to prison. * * 

" 5:30. Returned to jail, and Joseph and Hyrum 
were thrust into close confinement. * * 

u 8 p. m. Counselors Woods and Reid called 
with Elder J. P. Greene, and said that the Governor 
and* military officers had held a council which had 
been called by the Governor, and they decided that 
the Governor and all the troops should march to 
Xauvoo at eight o'clock to-morrow, except one 
company of about fifty men, in order to gratify the 
troops, and return next day, the company of fifty 
men to be selected by the Governor from those of 
the troops whose fidelity he could most rely on to 
guard the prisoners, who should be left in Carthage 
jail, and that their trial be deferred until Saturday, 
the 29th. * " 

"They retired to rest late. * * 5:30 a. m., 
arose. Joseph requested Daniel Jones to descend 
and inquire of the guard the cause of the intrusion 
in the night. Frank Worrill, the officer of the 
guard, in a very bitter spirit, said : ' We have had 
too much trouble to bring old Joe here to ever let 
him escape alive, and unless you want to die with 
him, you had better leave before sundown ; and you 
are not a d — d bit better than him for taking- his 
part ; and you'll see that I can 4 prophecy better than 
old Joe, for neither he nor his brother, nor anyone 



522 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

who will remain with them, will see the sun set to- 
day.' * * 

"10:30. Gov. Ford went to Nauvoo some time 
this forenoon, escorted by a portion of his troops, 
the most friendly to the prisoners, and leaving the 
known enemies to the Prophet [the Carthage 
Greys], ostensibly to guard the jail, having previ- 
ously disbanded the remainder. * * 

"3:15 p. m. The guard began to be more severe 
in their operations, threatening among themselves, 
and telling what they would do when the excite- 
ment was over. * * 

"4 p. m. The guard was again changed, only 
eight men being stationed at the jail, whilst the 
main body of the Carthage Greys were in camp 
about a quarter of a mile distant, on the public 
square. * * 

"5:20. Jailor Stigall returned to the jail and 
said that Stephen Markham had been surrounded 
by a mob, who had driven him out of Carthage, and 
he had gone to Nauvoo. * ■* 

" Before the jailor came in his boy brought in 
some water, and said the guard wanted some wine. 
Joseph gave Dr. Richards two dollars to give the 
guard, but the guard said one was enough, and 
would take no more. 

" The guard immediately sent for a bottle of 
wine, pipes and two small papers of tobacco, and 
one of the guard brought them into the jail soon 
after the jailor went out. Dr. Richards uncorked 
the bottle and presented a glass to Joseph, who 
tasted, as also brother Taylor and the Doctor, and 
the bottle was then given to the guard, who turned 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 523 

to go out. When at the top of the stairs some one 
below called him two or three times and he went 
down. 

" Immediately there was a little rustling at the 
outer door of the jail and a cry of surrender, and 
also a discharge of three or four firearms followed 
instantly. The doctor glanced an eye by the cur- 
tain of the window, and saw about a hundred armed 
men around the door." 



CHAPTER XLVIL 



THE TRAGEDY LAST WORDS OF THE PROPHET — 

FINALE. 

The following statement by Willard Richards, 
one of the survivors of the tragedy that followed 
the events last stated, is probably the most trust- 
worthy record of the matter extant. It is entitled 
"Two minutes in jail," and is as follows : 

Carthage, June 27th, 1844. 

A shower of musket balls were thrown up the 
stairway against the door of the prison in the sec- 
ond story, followed by many rapid footsteps. 

While Generals Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Mr. 
Taylor and myself, who were in the front chamber, 
closed the door of our room against the entry at 
the head of the stairs, and placed ourselves against 
it, there being no lock on the door, and no catch 
that was reliable. 

The door is a common panel, and as soon as we 
heard the feet at the stairs head a ball was sent 
through the door, which passed between us, and 
showed that our enemies were desperadoes, and we 
must change our position. 

General Joseph Smith, Mr. Taylor and myself 
sprang back to the front part of the room, and Gen-, 
eral Hyrum Smith retreated two-thirds across the 
chamber, directly in front of and facing the door. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 525 

A ball was sent through the door which hit 
Hyrum on the side of his nose, when he fell back- 
wards, extended at length, without moving his feet. 

From the holes in his vest (the day was warm, 
and no one had their coats on but myself), panta- 
loons, drawers and shirt, it appears evident that a 
ball must have been thrown from without through 
the window, which entered his back on the right 
side, and passing through, lodged against his watch, 
which was in his right vest pocket, completely pul- 
verizing the crystal and face, tearing off the hands, 
and mashing the whole body of the watch. At the 
same instant the ball from the door entered his nose. 

As he struck the floor he exclaimed emphatically, 
" I am a dead man." Joseph looked towards him 
and responded, " Oh, dear! Brother Hyrum," and 
opening the door two or three inches with his left 
hand, discharged one barrel of a six-shooter (pistol) 
at random in the entry, from whence a ball grazed 
Hyrum's breast, and entering his throat passed into 
his head, while other muskets were aimed at him 
and some balls hit him. 

Joseph continued snapping his revolver around 
the casing of the door into the space as before, 
three barrels of which missed fire, while Mr. Taylor 
with a walking stick stood by his side and knocked 
down the bayonets and muskets which were con- 
stantly 'discharging through the doorway, while I 
stood by him, ready to lend any assistance, with 
another stick, but could not come within striking 
distance without going directly before the muzzle of 
the guns. 

When the revolver failed we had no more fire- 
arms, and expected an immediate rush of the mob, 
and the doorway full of muskets, half way in the 
room, and no hope but instant death from within. 

Mr. Taylor rushed into the window, which is 
some fifteen or twenty feet from the ground. When 



526 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

his body was nearly on a balance a ball from the 
door within entered his leg, and a ball from without 
struck his w r atch, a patent lever, in his vest pocket 
near the left breast, and smashed it into "pi," leav- 
ing the hands standing at 5 o'clock, 16 minutes and 
26 seconds, the force of which ball threw him back 
on the floor, and he rolled under the bed which 
stood by his side, where he lay motionless, the mob 
from the door continuing to fire upon him, cutting 
away a piece of flesh from his left hip as large as a 
man's hand, and were hindered only by my knocking 
down their muzzles with a stick, while they contin- 
ued to reach their guns into the room, probably left 
handed, and aimed their discharge so far round as 
almost to reach us in the corner of the room to 
where we retreated and dodged, and then I recom- 
menced the attack with my stick. 

Joseph attempted, as the last resort, to leap the 
same window from whence Mr. Taylor fell, when 
two balls pierced him from the door and one entered 
his right breast from without, and he fell outward, 
exclaiming, " O, Lord, my God !." As his feet went 
out of the window my head went in, the balls 
whistling all around. He fell on his left side, a 
dead man. 

At this instant the cry was raised, " He's leaped 
the window," and. the mob on the stairs and in the 
entry ran out. 

I withdrew from the window, thinking it of no 
use to leap out on a hundred bayonets then around 
General Smith's body. 

Not satisfied with this, I again reached my head 
out of the window and watched some seconds to see 
if there were any signs of life, regardless of my own, 
determined to see the end of him I loved. Being 
fully satisfied that he was dead, with a hundred men 
near the body, and more coming round the corner 
of the jail, and expecting a return to our room, I 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 527 

rushed towards the prison door at the head of the 
stairs, and through the entry from whence the firing 
had proceeded, to learn if the doors into the prison 
were open. 

When near the entry Mr. Taylor cried out, ' take 
me.' I oressed my way until I found all doors un- 
barred, returning instantly, caught Mr. Taylor under 
my arm, and rushed by the stairs into the dungeon, 
or inner prison, stretched him on the floor, and cov- 
ered him with a bed in such a manner as not likely 
to be perceived, expecting an immediate return of 
the mob. 

I said to Mr. Taylor, <( This is a hard case to lay 
you on the floor, but if your wounds are not fatal I 
want you to live to tell the story." I expected to 
be shot the next moment, and stood before the door 
awaiting the onset. Willard Richards. 



From the point where Joseph leaped the window, 
the record continues : 

" He fell partly on his right shoulder and back, 
his neck and head reaching the ground a little be- 
fore his feet, and he rolled instantly on his face. 

" From this position he was taken by a man who 
was barefoot and bareheaded, and having on no 
coat, his pants rolled up above his knees, and his 
shirt sleeves above his elbows. He set Joseph 
against the south side of the wellcurb, which was 
situated a few feet from the jail, when Col. Levi 
Williams ordered four men to shoot him. They 
stood about eight feet from the curb, and fired sim- 
ultaneously. A slight cringe of the body was all 
the indication of pain visible when the balls struck 
him, and he fell on his face. 

" The ruffian who set him against the well-curb 



528 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

now gathered a bowie-knife for the purpose of sev- 
ering his head from his body. He raised the knife, 
and was in the attitude of striking when a light, so 
sudden and powerful, burst from the heavens upon 
the bloody scene (passing its vivid chain between 
Joseph and his murderers), that they were struck 
with terror. This light, in its appearance and po- 
tency, baffles all powers of description. The arm of 
the ruffian that held the knife fell powerless, the 
muskets of the four who fired fell to the ground, 
and they all stood like marble statues, not having 
the power to move a single limb of their bodies. 

" The retreat of the mob was as hurried and dis- 
orderly as it possibly could have been. Colonel 
Williams hallooed to some who had just commenced 
their retreat to come back and help to carry off. the 
four men who fired, and who were still paralyzed. 
They came and carried them away by main strength 
to the baggage wagons, when they fled towards 
Warsaw." 

Upon the tide of grief that swept over Nauvoo, 
and the consternation that filled the hearts of the 
mob, when the awful deed became known, we will 
not dwell. Neither will we attempt to depict that 
scene of woe which occurred when the bodies of the 
slain were delivered into the hands of their families. 

A whole people had been cruelly, fiendishly be- 
trayed and bereaved. Awful, beyond the power of 
words to picture, was the lament. 

To-day some of that very mob remain in peace 
near the scene of that atrocious crime, unwhipped 
of justice, and not one of that horde of assassins 
has ever felt the lash of the law. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 529 

Thus lived, and labored, and loved, and died the 
martyr prophet of the nineteenth century. Thus 
flashed athwart the black midnight of his age the 
light of the latter-days. But the darkness compre- 
hended it not ; and even as one of old was he be- 
trayed and sacrificed. 

Back to that scene on Calvary leaps the" thought 
of man. Instinctively are associated the tragedy 
of that day and the tragedy of this. Across the 
ages stride the footsteps of the self-same genius. 
In the agony of death appears the self-same spirit. 
Nay, from out the agony of Calvary and of Car- 
thage comes the self-same voice : " Lama Sabac- 
thana ! "— " Oh, Lord, my God ! " 

America, thou land of promise ! 

O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! 



34 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

THE CHURCH AFTER THE MARTYRDOM RETURN OF 

THE TWELVE CONFLICT FOR LEADERSHIP LAST 

DAYS OF NAUVOO THE EXODUS THE " BATTLE 

OF NAUVOO " MARCH OF THE MOB INTO THE 

DOOMED CITY ARRIVAL OF THE PIONEERS IN 

THE VALLEY OF THE SALT LAKE BRIGHAM 

CHOSEN PRESIDENT THE FOUNDING AND TYPE 

OF UTAH PROCLAMATION OF POLYGAMY INCI- 
DENTS OF UTAH HISTORY. 

No pen can describe the universal shock felt 
among the Saints when the news of the martyrdom 
burst upon them and spread throughout the United 
States and Europe. 

" When we landed in the city," says Apostle 
Woodruff in his journal, "a deep gloom seemed to 
rest over Nauvoo, which we never experienced be- 
fore. The minds of the Saints were agitated; their 
hearts sorrowful, and darkness seemed to cloud their 
path. They felt like sheep without a shepherd, their 
beloved prophet having been taken from them." 

It must be confessed that a stupendoys burden 
rested upon the shoulders of the Twelve. The 
Church had not only to be comforted in its great 
affliction, but made to realize, by a sufficient mani- 
festation of apostolic power, some form of an author- 
ized succession. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 53 1 

Sidney Rigdon, the second counselor of the 
martyred Prophet, arrived in Xauvoo before the 
President of the Twelve. He had for some time 
been as an unstable staff to his chief, and the Saints 
were not in a frame of mind to look upon him as 
"the man whom God had called" to sustain the 
Church in that awful hour. But Rigdon had come 
to claim the guardianship of the Church, in the 
absence of the majority of the Twelve. There 
were, however, enough of that quorum in Xauvoo 
to prevent Sidney from beguiling the people into 
an untimely action. 

When Rigdon appeared before the congregation, 
he related a vision which he said the Lord had 
shown him concerning the situation of the Church, 
and declared that there must be a guardian chosen 
"to build up the kingdom to Joseph." He was the 
identical man, he said, that the Prophets had sung 
about, wrote about, and rejoiced over; he was to do 
the identical work that had been the theme of all 
the prophets in every preceding generation. 

Elder Parley P. Pratt remarked, " I am the identi- 
cal man the prophets never sung nor wrote a word 
about." 

William Marks, the President of the Stake, ap- 
pointed a day for a special conference, for the pur- 
pose of choosing a guardian. 

Willard Richards proposed waiting till the Twelve 
Apostles returned, and advised the people to "ask 
wisdom of God." 

Elder Grover proposed waiting to examine the 
revelation.. 

And thus the Elders were variously moved.. 



532 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Rigdon sought to evade coming in council with 
such men as Willard Richards, Parley P. Pratt, John 
Taylor and George A. Smith ; but at length he was 
forced to a meeting with them. Entering, he paced 
the room and said : 

" Gentlemen, you are used up ; gentlemen, you 
are divided ; the anti-Mormons have got you ; the 
brethren are voting every way, — some for James, 
some for Deming, some for Coulson, and some for 
Bedell. The anti-Mormons have got you ; you can't 
stay in the country; everything is in confusion; you 
can do nothing. You lack a great leader ; you want 
a head ; and unless you unite upon that head, you're 
blown to the four winds. The anti-Mormons will 
carry the election ; a guardian must be appointed." 

" Brethren," said George A. Smith, "Elder Rig- 
don is entirely mistaken. There is no division; the 
brethren are united; the election will be unanimous, 
and the friends of law and order will be elected by 
a thousand majority. There is no occasion to be 
alarmed. Brother Rigdon is inspiring fears there 
are no grounds for." 

Such was the condition when the remainder of 
the Twelve arrived at Nauvoo. Surely Apostle 
Woodruff was right. The Saints were like sheep 
without their shepherd ; the Church was without 
her Revelator. Had Joseph been with them that 
day, Sidney would have been rebuked with the word 
of the Lord and made to comprehend that Christ 
is the Everlasting Head of the Church. 

Immediately on his return, the President of the 
Twelve called a special conference, to give Sidney 
Rigdon the opportunity to lay before the Church 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 533 

his claims for the leadership. It was August 8th, 
1844. That day was practically to decide who was 
to u lead Israel." 

At the hour appointed, Sidney took his position 
in a wagon, about two rods in front of the stand, 
where sat the Twelve. For nearly two hours he 
harangued the Saints upon the subject of choosing 
a guardian for the Church ; but his words fell upon 
the congregation like an untimely shower. 

"The Lord hath not chosen you!" Thus felt the 
Mormon Israel as his words died upon the ear. 

At two p. m. the second meeting was convened. 

"Attention all!" 

The voice rang over that vast congregation. It 
was the voice of Brigham Young. It was the first 
time he had spoken to the body of the Church since 
the martyrdom. 

" This congregation," he said, "makes me think 
of the days of King Benjamin, the multitude being 
so great that all could not hear. For the first time 
in my life, for the first time in your lives, for the 
first time in the kingdom of God, in the nineteenth 
century, without a prophet at your head, do I step 
forth to act in my calling in connection with the 
Quorum of the Twelve, as Apostles of Jesus Christ 
unto this generation — Apostles whom God has called 
by revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith, 
who are ordained and anointed to bear off the keys 
of the kingdom of God in all the world. This peo- 
ple have hitherto walked by sight and not by faith. 
You have had a prophet as the mouth of the Lord 
to speak to you, but he has sealed his testimony 
with his blood, and now for the first time are you 
called to walk by faith — not by sight. 

" The first proposition I take in behalf of the 



534 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Twelve and the people is to ask a few questions. 
I ask the Latter-day Saints, Do you, as individuals, 
at this time, want to choose a prophet or a guar- 
dian ? Inasmuch as our prophet and patriarch are 
taken from our midst, do you want some one to 
guard, to guide and lead you through this world into 
the kingdom of God or not ? All who want some 
person to be a guardian, or a prophet, a spokesman, 
or something else, signify it by raising .the right 
hand. (No votes.) 

"When I came to this stand I had peculiar feel- 
ings and impressions. The faces of this people 
seem to say, We want a shepherd to guide and lead 
us through this world. All who want to draw away 
a party from the Church after them, let them do it 
if they can, but they will not prosper. 

"If any man thinks he has influence among this 
people to lead away a party, let him try it, and he 
will find out that there is power with the Apostles 
which will carry them off victorious through all the 
world, and build up and defend the church and king- 
dom of God. 

"What do the people want? I feel as though I 
wanted the privilege to weep and mourn for thirty 
days at least, then rise up, shake myself, and tell the 
people what the Lord wants of them. Although 
my heart is too full of mourning to launch forth into 
business transactions and the organization of the 
church, I feel compelled this day to step forth in 
discharge of those duties God has placed upon me. 

"There has been much said about Brother Rig- 
don being President of the Church, and leading the 
people, being the head, &c. Brother Rigdon has 
come i, 600 miles to tell you what he wants to do 
for you. If the people want Brother Rigdon to lead 
them, they may have him ; but I say unto you, the 
Twelve have the keys of the kingdom of God in all 
the world. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 535 

" The Twelve are pointed out by the finger of 
God. Here is Brigham ; have his knees ever falter- 
ed? Have his lips ever quivered? Here is Heber 
and the rest of the Twelve an independent body, 
who have the keys of the priesthood, the keys of 
the kingdom of God to deliver to all the world ; this 
is true, so help me God ! They stand next to Joseph, 
and are as the first presidency of the church. 

"I do not know whether my enemies will take my 
life or not, and I do not care, for I want to be with 
the man I love. 

"You can not fill the office of a prophet, seer and 
revelator. God must do this. You are like children 
without a father and sheep without a shepherd. 
You must not appoint any man at your head. If 
you should the Twelve must ordain him. You can 
not appoint a man at your head ; but if you do want 
any other man or men to lead you, take them, and 
we will go our way to build up the kingdom in all 
the world. 

" I tell you there is an over anxiety to hurry mat- 
ters here. You can not take any man and put him 
at the head ; you would scatter the Saints to the 
four winds ; you would sever the priesthood. So 
long as we remain as we are, the heavenly head is 
in constant co-operation with us ; and if you go out 
of that course God will have nothing to do with you. 

" Again, perhaps some think that our beloved 
Brother Rigdon would not be honored, would not 
be looked to as a friend ; but if he does right, and 
remains faithful, he will not act against our counsel 
nor we against his, but act together, and we shall be 
as one. 

" I again repeat, no man can stand at our head 
except God reveals it from the heavens. 

" I have spared no pains to learn my lesson of 
the kingdom in this world, and in the eternal worlds. 
If it were not so I could go and live in peace ; but 



536 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

for the gospel and your sakes, I shall stand in my 
place. We are liable to be killed all the day long. 
You never lived by faith. 

" Brother Joseph, the Prophet, has laid the foun- 
dation of a great work, and we will build upon it. 

" You have never seen the quorums built one upon 
another. There is an Almighty foundation laid. 
And we can build a kingdom such as there never 
was in the world ; we can build a kingdom faster 
than Satan can kill the saints off. 

" Elder Rigdon claims to be a spokesman to the 
Prophet. Very well, he was ; but can he now act in 
that office? If he wants now to be a spokesman to 
the Prophet, he must go to the other side of the 
veil, for the Prophet is there; but Elder Rigdon is 
here. Why will Elder Rigdon be a fool ? I am 
plain. I will ask, Who has stood next to Joseph and 
Hyrum? I have and I will stand next to them. 
We have a head, and that head is the Apostleship, 
the spirit and power of Joseph, and we can now 
begin to see the necessity of that Apostleship. 

" Brother Rigdon was at his side — not above ; no 
man has a right to counsel the Twelve but Joseph 
Smith. Think of these things. You can not ap- 
point a prophet, but if you will let the Twelve re- 
main and act in their place, the keys of the kingdom 
are with them, and they can manage the affairs of 
the church, and direct all things aright." 

Much more was said by the President of the 
Twelve, in effect re-iterations of the foregoing; 
but this brief synopsis will be sufficient to show 
Brigham Young stepping into the place of the 
Leader of Israel. The Lord foreknew the apostasy 
of his Church ■ and Brigham was permitted to fulfill 
his destiny. Subsequent events will bring this cri- 
sis-day of the Church up for historic note, when the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 537 

Twelve shall have boldly usurped the office of ''Jo- 
seph and his Seed," and the Church herself shall 
have done all that her chief apostle declared she 
could not and dared not do ; namely, appoint a suc- 
cessor to the 'Prophet and President of the Church. 
This at her peril! God would reject her if she did! 
It was BrighairTs solemn warning at that hour. 

The Twelve were sustained as the First Presiden- 
cy by the unanimous vote of the people. Rigdon 
left for Pittsburgh, and gathered around him a few 
of his disciples, while the Apostles at Nauvoo set to 
work to enlarge their superstructure 

"You have never seen the quorums built one upon 
another," Bricfham had said on the great occasion. 
This was more fully comprehended when, at the 
next October Conference, there were about sixty 
High Priests and four hundred and thirty Seventies 
ordained. 

The "Apostles of the Seventies," as they have 
since been styled, may, according to the Doctrine 
and Covenants, be increased to seven quorums, or 
in the words of the revelation to " seven times sev- 
enty." But Brigham was about to build up a Mor- 
mon hierarchy ; and so with a dash he created over 
six quorums of the Seventies and sixty High Priests 
at the very first conference of the Church after the 
martyrdom. 

But turn we now to the more secular history of 
the Mormon people. 

On the 27th of September, 1844, Governor Ford 
marched five hundred troops into Nauvoo. He 
came ostensibly to bring the murderers of Joseph 
and Hyrum Smith to justice ; for as they were, at the 



538 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

time of the assassination, State prisoners, under the 
plighted faith of the State, the Governor could do 
nothing less than support an investigation. On the 
day of his arrival, Brigham Young received his com- 
mission as Lieut-General of the Nauvoo Legion, 
previously held by Joseph Smith, and the next day 
the following was sent to His Excellency: 

Head-quarters Nauvoo Legion, \ 
Sept. 28th, 1844. j 

Sir: The review of the Nauvoo Legion will take 
place this day at 12 m., at which time the Command- 
er-in-Chief, with his Staff, is respectfully solicited to 
accept an escort from the Legion, and be present 
at the review. 

Brigham Young, 

Lieut-Gen. Nauvoo Legion. 

The Lieut-General reviewed the Legion, the 
Governor, General J. J. Hardin and Staff present. 
Salutes were fired, and the Legion made a soldier- 
like appearance. Several of its staff officers, how- 
ever, came in uniform but without arms, which the 
Governor regarded as a hint to remind him of his 
having disarmed the Legion previous to the mas- 
sacre of Joseph Smith. 

Soon afterwards the Governor issued the follow- 
ing very suggestive order, accompanied with in- 
structions : 

State of Illinois, Executive Dep't., 
Springfield, Oct. 9th, 1844. 
To Lieut.-General Brigham Young, of the 
Nauvoo Legion. 

Sir: — It may be probable that there may be fur- 
ther disturbances in Hancock County by those 
opposed to the prosecutions against the murderers 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 539 

of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. They may combine 
together in arms to subvert justice and prevent 
those prosecutions from going on. They may also 
attack or resist the civil authorities of the State in 
that county, and they may attack some of the set- 
tlements or people there with violence of a mob. 

In all these cases you are hereby ordered and di- 
rected to hold in readiness sufficient force, under 
your command, of the Nauvoo Legion, to act under 
the direction of the said sheriff, for the purpose afore- 
said ; and also to suppress mobs which may be col- 
lected in said county to injure the persons or prop- 
erty of any of the citizens. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my 
hand and affixed the Seal of State, the day and year 
first herein above written. 

Thomas Ford, 
Gov. and Commander-in-Chief. 

The inclosed order is one of great delicacy to 
execute. I have conversed with Mr. Backenstos 
and others, and my 'opinion is the same as theirs, 
that employing the Legion, even legally, may call 
down the vengeance of the people against your city. 
If it should be the means of getting up a civil war 
in Hancock I do not know how much force I could 
bring to the aid of the Government. A force to be 
efficient would have to be called out as volunteers; 
a draft would bring friends and enemies alike. I 
called for twenty-five hundred before ; and, by or- 
dering out independent companies, got four hundred 
and seventy-five ; three of those companies, the 
most efficient, have been broken up, and would re- 
fuse to go again. I should anticipate but a small 
force to be raised by volunteers. I would not 
undertake to march a drafted militia there. Two- 
thirds of them would join the enemy. The enclosed 
order is more intended as a permission to use the 
Legion, in the manner indicated, if upon consider- 



54-0 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

ation of the whole matter it is thought advisable, 
than a compulsory command. 

Your most wise and discreet counselors, and the 
county officers, will have to act according to their 
best judgment. 

Thomas Ford. 

This order, with the private instructions, is very 
significant, in connection with the history of the 
Mormons in Missouri and Illinois. Constitutionally 
they were in the right. The murder of the Prophet 
and his brother had brought them into the service 
of the State. Thus employed, Joseph and the Legion 
could have taken care of their people, and, if neces- 
sary, could have maintained the Governor through 
the issue of a civil war. This would, however, have 
given Illinois to the dominance of the Mormons. 
Hence the " delicacy " of his Excellency now in call- 
ing the Legion into service ; doing substantially 
what Joseph Smith had done, which in him had 
been construed as high treason against the State. 

The anti-Mormons were keen to perceive the ad- 
Vantage which the people of Nauvoo had gained, 
not only from the intrinsic righteousness of their 
cause, but in their patient bearing of intolerable 
wrongs. It became their policy from that moment 
to repeal the charter of the City and Legion. This 
the Legislature of Illinois did in the month of Jan- 
uary, 1845. The Mormon people were virtually 
outlawed, and all constitutional powers for their 
preservation taken away from them. 

The members of the Legislature were but too 
ready to execute any plan proposed for the extinc- 
tion of the Mormon community. One of the mem- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 54I 

bers of the Senate. Jacob C. Davis, was under in- 
dictment for the murder of the Prophet and his 
brother. In relation to this action of the Leeisla- 
ture, the Attorney General of the State, Josiah 
Lamborn. wrote to President Young: 

"I have always considered that your enemies have 
been prompted by religious and political prejudices, 
and by a desire for plunder and blood, more than 
for the common good. By the repeal of your char- 
ter, and bv refusing all amendments and modifica- 
tions, our Legislature has given a kind of sanction 
to the barbarous manner in which you have been 
treated. Your two representatives exerted them- 
selves to the extent of their ability in your behalf, 
but the tide of popular passion and frenzy was too 
strong to be resisted. It is truly a melancholy spec- 
tacle to witness the law-makers of a sovereign State 
condescending to pander to the vices, ignorance and 
malevolence of a class of people who are at all 
times ready for riot, murder and rebellion." 

Of Jacob C. Davis, he said : 

"Your Senator, Jacob C. Davis, has done much 
to poison the minds of members against anything 
in your favor. He walks at large, in defiance of 
law, an indicted murderer. If a Mormon was in 
his position, the Senate would afford no protection, 
but he would be dragged forth to the goal, or to 
the gallows, or to be shot down by a cowardly and 
brutal mob." 

On the 19th of May the trial of the men indicted 
by the grand jury for the murder of Joseph and 
Hyrum Smith, was begun at Carthage, Hon. Rich- 
ard M. Young, of Quincy, on the bench. The men 
on trial were : Col. Levi Williams, a Baptist preach- 



542 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

er ; Thomas C. Sharp, editor of the Warsaw Sig- 
nal ; Jacob C. Davis, Senator; Mark Aldrich and 
William N. Grover. They were outrageously held 
to bail, upon their persoital recognizances, in the 
unprecedentedly insignificant sum of one thousand 
dollars each, to make their appearance in the court 
each day of the term. They made two affidavits, 
asking for the array of jurors to be quashed, obtain- 
ed the discharge of the County Commissioners, the 
Sheriff and his deputies, and the appointment by 
the Court of two special officers to select jurors. 
Ninety-six were summoned, out of whom the defense 
chose a suitable panel. One of the lawyers for 
the accused, Calvin A. Warren, in his defense of 
them, said: "If the prisoners were guilty of mur- 
der, then he himself was guilty. It was the public 
opinion that the Smiths ought to be killed, and 
public opinion made the laws ; consequently it was 
not murder to kill them!" This was strange doc- 
trine to be affirmed in a great murder case, in which 
the State was a party, not in an ordinary, but in 
an extraordinary sense; affirmed too and sustained 
in open court. 

It is scarcely necessary to add that the assassins 
were " honorably acquitted!" 

A rush of historic events crowd the years 1845, 
'46 and '47. Governor Ford, in a letter to President 
Young, under date of April 8th, 1845, ur g m g tne 
migration of the 'Mormons to California, said: 

"If you can get off by yourselves you may enjoy 
peace; but, surrounded by such neighbors, I confess 
that I do not see the time when you will be permit- 
ted to enjoy quiet. I was informed by General 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 543 

Joseph Smith, last summer, that he contemplated a 
removal west; and from what I learned from him 
and others at that time, I think, if he had lived, he 
would have begun to move in the matter before 
this time. I would be willing to exert all my feeble 
abilities and influence to further your views in this 
respect if it was the wish of your people. 

I would suggest a matter in confidence ; Califor- 
nia now offers a field for the prettiest enterprise 
that has been undertaken in modern times. It is 
but sparsely inhabited, and by none but the Indian 
or imbecile Mexican Spaniards. I have not enquired 
enough to know how strong it is in men and means. 
But this we'know, if conquered from Mexico, that 
country is so physically weak and morally distracted 
that she could never send a force there to recon- 
quer it. Why should it not be a pretty operation 
for your people.to go out there, take possession of and 
conquer a portion of the vacant country, and estab- 
lish an independent Government of your own, sub- 
ject only to the laws of nations. You would remain 
there a long time before you would be disturbed by 
the proximity of other settlements. If you conclude 
to do this, your design ought not to be known, or 
otherwise it would become the duty of the United 
States to prevent your emigration. If you once 
cross the line of the United States Territories, you 
would be in no danger of being interfered with." 

This now, indeed, is advice from a loyal Governor 
who had permitted the Prophet and his brother to 
be murdered while in the custody of the State ; 
because they had been guilty of an attempt to set 
up the kingdom of God within the boundaries of 
the United States. The advice is to go beyond those 
boundaries, conquer a country and establish, an in- 
dependent government of their own, subject only to 



544 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the laws of nations. Senator Douglas and other 
national leaders gave to Joseph the same counsel. 
What wonder, therefore, now that the exodus had 
become inevitable, that Brigham and the Twelve 
should have resolved to set up an independent gov- 
ernment and frame domestic institutions which, 
however repugnant they might be to a Christian 
civilization, seemed, from ancient examples, quite in 
keeping with an Israel in the wilderness? 

Towards the close of the year 1845, the leaders 
in council resolved to remove at once and seek a 
second Zion in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains 
or in California, for as yet the exact and final loca- 
tion was not determined. Before the Mormons 
however, undertook their exodus, they appealed, 
but appealed in vain, not only to the President of 
the United States, but to the governors of all the 
States, excepting Missouri and Illinois, addressing 
to each a personal prayer, asking of them their in- 
fluence to prevent the ruthless extermination of 
twenty thousand native-born American citizens, or 
at least their favor in peacefully removing them to 
Oregon or California. Moreover, they had, during 
the lifetime of the Prophet, as we have seen, sent a 
delegation to Washington, — Joseph Smith himself 
going to ask redress of the wrongs of his people. 
It was then that President Van Buren made his 
famous reply: " Gentlemen, your cause is just, but 
I can do nothing for you ! " 

The appeal of the church to the President of the 
United States is of too much historic importance 
to be omitted as it is not only a touching and pow- 
erful review of the wrongs of the Saints, but an ex- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 545 

emplification of the fact that it was the growth of 
the community as a social and political power, 
rather than their spiritual ministry, that stirred up 
the wrath and jealousy of Missouri and Illinois. 
Here it is : 

Nauvoo, April 24th, 1845. 
His Excellency James K. Polk, President of 

the United States. 

Honored Sir: — Suffer us, in behalf of a disfran- 
chised people, to prefer a few suggestions for your 
serious consideration, in hope of a friendly and un- 
equivocal response, at as early a period as may suit 
your convenience, and the extreme urgency of 
the case seems to demand. 

It is not our present design to detail the multipli- 
ed and aggravated wrongs that we have received 
in the midst of a nation that gave us birth. Most 
of us have long been loyal citizens of some one of 
these United States, over which you have the honor 
to preside, while a few only claim the privilege of 
peaceful and lawful emigrants, designing to make 
the Union our permanent residence. 

We say we are a disfranchised people. We are 
privately told by the highest authorities of the State 
that it is neither prudent nor safe for us to vote at 
the polls ; still we have continued to maintain our 
right to vote until the blood of our best men has 
been shed, both in Missouri and Illinois, with im- 
punity. 

You are doubtless somewhat familiar with the 
history of our expulsion from the State of Missouri, 
wherein scores of our brethren were massacred. 
Hundreds died through want and sickness, occasion- 
ed by their unparalled sufferings. Some millions 
worth of our property was destroyed, and some 
fifteen thousand souls fled for their lives to the then 
hospitable and peaceful shores of Illinois ; and that 

35 



546 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the State of Illinois granted to us a liberal charter, 
for the term of perpetual succession, under whose 
provision private rights have become invested, and 
the largest city in the State has grown up number- 
ing about twenty thousand inhabitants. 

But, sir, the startling attitude recently assumed 
by the State of Illinois, forbids us to think that her 
designs are less vindictive that those of Missouri. 
She has already used the military of the State, with 
the Executive at their head, to coerce and surren- 
der up our best men to unparalled murder, and that 
too, under the most sacred pledges of protection 
and safety. As a salve for such unearthly perfidy 
and guilt, she told us, through her highest executive 
officers, that the laws should be magnified and the 
murderers brought to justice ; but the blood of her 
innocent victims had not been wholly wiped from 
the floor of the awful arena, ere the Senate of that 
State rescued one of the indicted actors in that 
mournful tragedy from the sheriff of Hancock Coun- 
ty and gave him a seat in her hall of legislation ; 
and all who were indicted by the grand jury of 
Hancock County for the murder of Joseph and 
Hyrum Smith are suffered to roam at large, watch- 
ing for further prey. 

To crown the climax of those bloody deeds, the 
State has repealed those chartered rights, by which 
we might have lawfully defended ourselves against 
aggressors. If we defend ourselves hereafter against 
violence, whether it comes under the shadow of law 
or otherwise, (for we have reason to expect it in 
both ways), we shall then be charged with treason 
and suffer the penalty; and, if we continue passive 
and non-resistant, we must certainly expect to per- 
ish, for our enemies have sworn it. 

And here, sir, permit us to state that General 
Joseph Smith, during his short life, was arraigned at 
the bar of his country about fifty times, charged 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 547 

with criminal offences, but was acquitted every time 
by his country; his enemies, or rather his religious 
opponents, almost invariably being his judges. And 
we further testify that, as a people, we are law-abid- 
ing, peaceable, and without crime; and we challenge 
the world to prove to the contrary; and, while 
other less cities in Illinois have had special courts 
instituted to try their criminals, we have been strip- 
ped of every source of arraigning marauders and 
murderers who are prowling around to destroy us, 
except the common magistracy. 

With these facts before you, sir, will you write to 
us, without delay, as a father and friend, and advise 
us what to do. We are members of the same great 
confederacy. Our fathers, yea, some of us, have 
fought and bled for our country, and we love her 
constitution dearly. 

In the name of Israel's God, and by virtue of 
multiplied ties of country and kindred, we ask your 
friendly interposition in our favor. Will it be too 
much for us to ask you to convene a special session 
of Congress, and furnish us an asylum where we can 
enjoy our rights of conscience and of religion unmo- 
lested? Or, will you, in a special message to that 
body when it is convened, recommend a remon- 
strance against such unhallowed acts of oppression 
and expatriation as this people have continued to 
receive from the States of Missouri and Illinois? 
Or will you favor us by your personal influence and 
by your official rank? Or will you express your 
views concerning what is called the " Great Western 
Measure" of colonizing the Latter-day Saints in 
Oregon, the North-western Territory, or some loca- 
tion remote from the States, where the hand of 
oppression shall not crush every noble principle, 
and extinguish every patriotic feeling ? 

And now, honored sir, having reached out our 



548 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

imploring hands to you, we would with deep solem- 
nity, importune you as a father, a friend, a patriot, 
and as the head of a mighty nation, by the consti- 
tution of American liberty, by the blood of our fath- 
ers, who have fought for the independence of this 
republic, by the blood of the martyrs, which has 
been shed in our midst, by the wailings of the wid- 
ows and orphans, by our murdered fathers and 
mothers, brothers and sisters, wives and children, 
by the dread of immediate destruction from secret 
combinations now. forming for our overthrow, and 
by every endearing tie that binds man to man, and 
renders life bearable, and that, too, for aught we 
know, for the last time, — that you will lend your 
immediate aid to quell the violence of mobocracy, 
and exert your influence to establish us as a people 
in our civil and religious rights, where we now are, 
or in some part of the United States, or in some 
place remote therefrom, where we may colonize in 
peace and safety, as soon as circumstances will permit. 
We sincerely hope that your future prompt meas- 
ures towards us will be dictated by the best feelings 
that dwell in the bosom of humanity, and the bless- 
ings of a grateful people, and many ready to perish, 
shall come upon you. 

We are, sir, with great respect, your obedient 
servants, 

Brigham Young, 

Willard Richards, 

Orson Spencer, 

Orson Pratt, y Committee. 

W. W. Phelps, 

A. W. Babbitt, 

J. M. Bernhisel, 

In behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- 
day Saints of Nauvoo, Illinois. 

P.S. — As many of our communications, post-mark- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 549 

ed at Nauvoo, have failed of their destination, and 
as the mails around us have been intercepted by 
our enemies, we shall send this to some distant office 
by the hand of a messenger. 

The exodus of Latter-day Israel is a great his- 
toric fact in the a^e. In such a li^ht the historian 
must treat it, and that too with all the fidelity due 
to one of the most Israelitish spectacles either of 
ancient or modern times. 

The Mormons were told by the Twelve that they 
had now no destiny but in the west. If they tarried 
longer, their blood would fertilize the lands which 
they had tilled, and their wives and daughters would 
be ravished within the sanctuary of the homes 
which their industrious hands had built. Their 
people were by a thousand ancestral links joined to 
the pilgrim fathers who founded this nation, and 
with the heroes who won for it independence, and 
it was as the breaking of their heart-strings to rend 
them from their fatherland, and send them as exiles 
into the territory of a foreign power. But there 
was no alternative between a Mormon exodus or a 
Mormon massacre. 

Sorrowfully, but resolutely, the Saints prepared 
to leave, trusting in the providence which had thus 
far taken them through their darkest days, and 
multiplied upon their heads compensation for their 
sorrows. 

But the anti-Mormons seemed eager for the ques- 
tionable honor of exterminating them. In Septem- 
ber of the year 1845, delegates from nine counties 



550 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

met in convention at Carthage over the Mormon 
troubles, and sent four commissioners, — General 
Hardin, Commander of the State Militia; Senator 
Stephen A. Douglas; W. B. Warren; and J. A. 
McDougal, — to demand the removal of the Mor- 
mons to the Rocky Mountains. The commission- 
ers held a council with the Twelve Apostles at 
Nauvoo, and the Mormon leaders promptly agreed 
to remove their people at once. 

General Hardin asked of the Apostles what 
guarantee they would give that the Mormons would 
fulfill their part of the covenant? To this Brigham 
replied, with a strong common sense severity, " You 
have otir all as our guarantee ; what more can we 
give beyond the guarantee of oiir names! 1 

Senator Douglas observed, " Mr. Young is right." 
But General Hardin knew that the people of 
Illinois, and especially the anti-Mormons, would 
look to him more than to Douglas, who had been 
styled the Mormon-made Senator ; so the commis- 
sioners asked for a written covenant, of a nature to 
relieve themselves of much of the responsibility, 
and addressed the following: 

Nauvoo, Oct. ist, 1845. 
To the President and Council of the Church 

at Nauvoo: 

Having had a free and full conversation with you 
this day in reference to your proposed removal from 
this country, together with the members of your 
Church, we have to request you to submit the facts- 
and intentions stated to us in the said conversation 
to writing, in order that we may lay them before 
the Governor and people of the State. We hope 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 55 1 

that by so doing it will have a tendency to allay the 
excitement at present existing in the public mind. 
We have the honor to subscribe ourselves, 
Respectfully yours, 

John J. Hardin, 
W. B. Warren, 
S. A. Douglas, 
J. A. McDougal 

The covenant itself is too precious to be lost to 
history ; here it is : 

Nauvoo, 111., Oct. 1st, 1845. 
"To Gen. J. J. Hardin, W. B. Warren, S. A. 

D©UGLAS AND J. A. McDoUGALL. 

Messrs : — In reply to your letter of this date, re- 
questing us to submit the facts and intentions stated 
by us in writing, in order that you may lay them 
before the Governor and the people of the State, 
we refer you to our communication of the 24th ult, 
to the Ouincy committee, &c, a copy of which is 
herewith enclosed.* 

In addition to this we would say that we had 
commenced making arrangements to remove from 
the country, previous to the recent disturbances ; 
that we have four companies, of one hundred famil- 
ies each, and six more companies now organizing, 
of the same number each, preparatory {o a removal. 

That one thousand families, including the Twelve, 
the High Council, the trustees and general author- 
ities of the church, are fully determined to remove 
in the Spring, independent of the contingencies of 
selling our property; and that this company will 
comprise from five to six thousand souls. 

That the Church, as a body, desires to remove 
with us, and will, if sales can be effected, so as to 
raise the necessary means. 

That the organization of the Church we repre- 



552 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

sent is such that tnere never can exist but one head 
or presidency at any one time. And all good mem- 
bers wish to be with the organization ; and all are 
determined to remove to some distant point where 
we shall neither infringe nor be infringed upon, so 
soon as time and means will permit. 

That we have some hundreds of farms and some 
two thousand houses for sale in this city and county, 
and we request all good citizens to assist in the 
disposal of our property. 

That we do not expect to find purchasers for our 
temple and other public buildings; but we are will- 
ing to rent them to a respectable community who 
may inhabit the city. 

That we wish it distinctly understood that althpugh 
we may not find purchasers for our property, we 
will not sacrifice it, nor give it away or suffer it 
illegally to be wrested from us. 

That we do not intend to sow any wheat this Fall, 
and should we all sell, we shall not put in any more 
crops of any description. 

That as soon as practicable, we will appoint com- 
mittees for this city, La Harpe, Macedonia, Bear 
Creek, and all necessary places in the country to 
give information to purchasers. 

That if these testimonies are not sufficient to 
satisfy any people that we are in earnest, we will 
soon give them a sign that can not be mistaken — 

WE WILL LEAVE THEM. 

In behalf of the council, respectfully yours, 

Brigham Young, President. 
Willard Richards, Clerk 



The covenant satisfied the commissioners, and for 
a time satisfied also the anti-Mormons. 

But their enemies were impatient for the Mormons 
to be gone. So the High Council issued a circular 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 553 

to the Church, Jan. 20, 1846, in which they stated 
the intention of their community to locate " in some 
good valley in the neighborhood of the Rocky 
Mountains. Here we will make a resting place 
until we can determine a place for a permanent 
location." The High Council climaxed their circu- 
lar thus : 

" We agreed to leave the country for the sake of 
peace, upon the condition that no more persecutions 
be instituted against us. In good faith we have 
labored to fulfill this agreement. Governor Ford 
has also done his duty to further our wishes in this 
respect, but there are some who are unwilling that 
we should have an existence anywhere; but our 
destinies are in the hands of God, and so are theirs/' 

Early in February, 1846, those of the Saints who 
had resolved to follow the Twelve, began to cross 
the Mississippi and take up their line of march to 
the Rocky Mountains. 

On their route the Mormons formed temporary 
Settlements, and by about the middle of June, Gar- 
den Grove, Mount Pisgah, and Council Bluffs were 
organized into primitive Mormon cities under Bish- 
ops and High Councils. Then came the "call of 
the Mormon Battalion " by the Government design- 
ed for the good of the Mormon people as well as 
for the service of the nation — a " call " made on the 
application of President Young through the agent 
of the Church, — Jesse C. Little — made directly to 
the President of the United States by personal in- 
terviews and a petition offering the Mormons for 
the service of the nation. 



554 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Scarcely less eventful than that of the main body 
of the Church had been the history of the remnant 
at Nauvoo after the departure of the Twelve. In 
April, ere the vanguard of the pioneers had got 
fairly on their journey west, the anti-Mormons again 
began to rise, and Governor Ford sent a small force 
into Hancock County, ostensibly to preserve the 
peace, but really to sour the Mormons in their flight. 
On the 1 6th of that month the officer in command 
(Major Warren) published through the Hancock 
Eagle the Governor's order for him to disband his 
force on the ist of May, saying: "It seems to be 
the understanding of the Executive, and the State 
at large, that the time stipulated for the removal of 
the Mormons will expire on that day. I indulge a 
hope that the understanding so generally may not 
be disappointed." 

This was most treacherous and cruel. The read- 
er has seen the covenant given to the four commis- 
sioners — General Hardin, Senator Douglas, W. B. 
Warren and J. A. McDougall. There was no such 
terms of stipulation, that the Mormons would evac- 
uate their city by the ist of May. They had been 
leaving, company after company, as fast as possible. 
It was not in human efforts to do more than they 
had done. One of Major Warren's reports in the 
Quincy Whig of May 20th, 1846, will give to the 
reader a striking picture: 

"The Mormons are leaving the city with all pos- 
sible despatch. During the week four hundred 
teams have crossed at three points, or about 1,350 
souls. The demonstrations made by the Mormon 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET 555 

population are unequivocal. They are leaving the 
State, and preparing to leave, with every means God 
and nature have placed in their hands. This ought 
to be satisfactory. 

"A man of near sixty years of age, living about 
seven miles from this place (Nauvoo), was taken 
from his house a few nights since, stripped of his 
clothing, and his back cut to pieces with a whip, for 
no other reason than because he was a Mormon, and 
too old to make a successful resistance. Conduct 
of this kind would disgrace a horde of savages." 

Early in June a public meeting was held at Carth- 
age, to make arrangements for the fourth of July, 
but the "crusade" coming uppermost, even above 
the celebration of our national independence, the 
meeting resolved itself into an anti-Mormon one, 
and delegates were appointed to hold a conference 
with a committee of the " new settlers," who were 
succeeding the *Mormons in Nauvoo. Accordingly 
a delegation from Nauvoo attended the conference 
at Carthage on the 12th of June, where they found 
an armed force ready to march against their city; 
but after a hurried consultation it was agreed to 
march them within four miles of Nauvoo, giving the 
new citizens the privilege of sending a committee 
of nine to meet a similar committee of nine from 
the anti-Mormons, to confer on the all prevailing 
subject. 

The anti-Mormons stated that they wished to 
march their force into Nauvoo to see if the Mor- 
mons were leaving, but the new citizens' committee 
objected. It was then proposed that companies of 
fifty at a time should march in, which was also 



556 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

rejected, and it was declared that no armed force, 
without authority, would be permitted to enter the 
city. 

All manner of illegal proceedings were resorted 
to by the mob to get into custody the most active 
members of the new citizens' committee, and they 
went even so far as to threaten to lynch them. At 
this W. E. Clifford, President of the Trustees of 
the town of Nauvoo, wrote a letter to Governor 
Ford for assistance, to protect the town against the 
mob faction. 

But mob rule prevailed. Major Parker, who was 
in command of the State force, issued a proclama- 
tion commanding all good citizens to return to their 
homes. The mob leader, John Carlin, defied him. 
Major Parker answered that, if Carlin's posse did 
not disperse, he would regard them as a mob and 
treat them as such ; to which Carlin rejoined that 
he should do the same with Parker and his men; 
and he forthwith raised an army of a thousand men, 
officered and equipped for a campaign, and gave the 
command of it to Colonel Singleton. Major Parker 
now, in- behalf of the State, concluded to consider 
Carlin and his compeers his equals and to make a 
treaty with them. But Singleton, disgusted with 
the mob, resigned his command. Carlin thereupon 
appointed " Col. Brockman " to fill Col. Singleton's 
place, and the new commander, in a stirring speech 
told the " regulators " he would lead them on if they 
would pledge themselves to obey his orders. " Old 
Tom," as he called himself, was described as the 
staff of the camp. 

As soon as Brockman took command, he gave 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 557 

orders for marching. The mob had now again 
swelled to over a thousand, with many baggage 
wagons, and everything for a regular campaign. 
The Mormons and the new citizens prepared them- 
selves for the worst. On the 9th of September, 
1846, at about half-past nine, a.m., the watchman 
posted on the tower of the temple announced that 
the mob was approaching Nauvoo on the Carthage 
road. Orders were given to the four companies 
into which the volunteers of Nauvoo had been 
organized, to march out and meet the enemy. At 
length came the " Great Battle of Nauvoo." The 
Warsaw Signal, the mob organ, in that day's bulletin 
said : 

11 The battle lasted from the time the first feint 
was made, until our men were drawn off, an hour 
and a quarter. Probably there is not on record an 
instance of a longer continued militia fight. The 
Mormons stood their ground manfully, but from the 
little execution done by them we infer that they 
were not very cool or deliberate. Their loss is un- 
certain, as they had taken special pains to conceal 
the number of their dead and wounded." 

The triumphal entrance of the mob into the 
doomed city is thus described by Governor Ford : 

"The constable's/^^ marched in with Brockman 
at their head, consisting of about eight hundred 
armed men, and six or seven hundred unarmed men, 
who came from motives of curiosity, to see the once 
proud city of Nauvoo humbled and delivered up to 
its enemies, and to the domination of a self-consti- 
tuted and irresponsible power. * * When the posse 
arrived in the city, the leaders of it erected them- 
selves into a tribunal to decide who should be forced 



558 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

away and who remain. Parties were dispatched to 
search for Mormon arms and for Mormons, and to 
bring them to the judgment, where they received 
their doom from the mouth of Brockman, who then 
sat, a grim and unawed tyrant, for the time. As a 
general rule the Mormons were ordered to leave 
within an hour or two hours ; and bv rare grace 
some of them were allowed until next day, and in a 
few cases, longer. 

The treaty specified that the Mormons only should 
be driven into exile. Nothing was said in it con- 
cerning the new citizens who had, with the Mormons, 
defended the city. But the posse no sooner obtained 
possession than they commenced expelling the new 
citizens. Some of them were ducked in the river, 
being, in one or two instances, actually baptized in 
the name of the leader's of the mob ; others were 
forcibly driven into the ferry boats, to be taken over 
the river before the bayonets of armed ruffians; and 
it is asserted that the houses of most of them were 
broken open and their property stolen during their 
absence, * * * 

The Mormons had been forced away from their 
houses unprepared for their journey; they and their 
women and children had been thrown houseless 
upon the Iowa shore, without provisions or the 
means of getting them, or to get to places where pro- 
visions might be obtained. It was now the height 
of the sickly season. Many of them were taken 
from sick beds, hurried into the boats, and driven 
away by armed ruffians, now exercising the power 
of government. The best they could do was to 
erect their tents on* the bank of the river, and there 
remain to take their chances of perishing by hunger, 
or by prevailing sickness. In this condition the 
sick, without shelter, food, nourishment or medi- 
cines, died by scores. The mother watched the sick 
babe without hope, and when it sank under accu- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 559 

mulated miseries, it was only to be quickly followed 
bv her other children, now left without the least 
attention, for the men had scattered out over the 
country seeking employment and the means of liv- 
ing," — Ford's History of Illinois, pages 424, 426. 



In the Spring of 1847 the Pioneers took up their 
journey to the Mountains, upon which this history 
can not follow them in detail. They started from 
Winter Quarters on the 7th of April, the day after 
the General Conference. The pioneer song which 
thev sang as they marched will illustrate the Israel- 
itish spirit of the occasion : 

u The time of winter now is o'er, 

There's verdure on the plain; 
We leave our sheltring roofs once more, 

And to our tents again. 
Chorus. 
0. Camp of Israel, onward move, 

0, Jacob, rise and sing: 
Ye Saints the world's salvation prove, 

All hail to Zion's King." 

Brio-ham and the main body of the Pioneers 
arriyed in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake on the 
24th of July, 1S47. They immediately planted 
crops, explored, laid off the city, selected the Tem- 
ple Block, and chose their "inheritances;" and then 
the leaders took up the return march to Winter 
Quarters, leaying some of the pioneers in the val- 
ley. By this time they had been strengthened by 
the arriyal of a detachment of the Mormon Bat- 
talion, which had been discharged, and a company 
of about one hundred of the Mississippi Saints, who 
came with them from Pueblo. The Saints in the 



560 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

valley were placed under the presidency of Father 
John Smith, uncle of the Prophet; and their force 
was soon swelled to several thousand by the arrival 
of the advance companies under chief "Captains of 
Israel," such Apostles as Parley P. Pratt and John 
Taylor, Bishop Hunter, Daniel Spencer, and Jede- 
diah M. Grant. 

The Pioneers with most of the returned members 
of the Mormon Battalion started from the Salt Lake 
Valley on the 26th of August. On the 3d of Sep- 
tember they met the first division of fifty under 
President Daniel Spencer ; and on the next day two 
more fifties, one under Apostle Parley P. Pratt. 
The following is worthy historical note. Wilford 
Woodruff says : 

" In the afternoon, the Quorum of the Twelve 
held a council, and two of the Twelve were sharply 
rebuked, for undoing what the majority of the quo- 
rum had done in the organization of the camps for 
traveling. At first it was not received, but after- 
wards the error was confessed. President Young 
gave much instruction, and the power of God rested 
upon us. He said, if he did not tell us of our faults 
we should be destroyed, but if we received necessary 
reproof, we should live in love, and our hearts would 
be cemented together President Young said he 
felt eternity resting upon him, and was weighed 
down to the earth with this work ; and that Brother 
Kimball felt it also more than any other man except 
himself. He should chastize any one of the quorum 
when out of the way. He had done it for our good, 
and had been constrained to it by the power of God." 

The two Apostles referred to are Parley P. Pratt 
and John Taylor. Those who heard that "sharp 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROP. ET. 561 

rebuke " remember it to this day. ,'>riaham was 
about to make himself President of the Church ; 
he was conquering the Twelve : and this rebuke 
served as a lesson to others a few weeks later. 

The Pioneers arrived at Winter Quarters on the 
31st of October. 

In a Council of the Twelve on the 5th of Decem- 
ber, at Winter Quarters at the house of Orson 
Hyde, the Twelve chose a First Presidency. Here 
is the Council minute : 

" Orson Hvde then moved that Brio-ham Young- 
be President of the Church of jesus Christ of Lat- 
ter-day, Saints, and that he nominate his two 
Councilors to form the First Presidency. Wilford 
Woodruff seconded the motion, and it was then 
carried unanimously. 

*' President Young then nominated Heber C. Kim- 
ball as his First Councilor, and Willard Richards as 
his Second Councilor, which was seconded and car- 
ried unanimously." — Life of Brigham Young, page iSS. 

Thus it will be seen, excluding the president him- 
self, six of the Quorum of the Twelve set up the 
First Presidency of the Church — namely Heber C. 
Kimball, Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Wilford Wood- 
ruff, Willard Richards and Geox^ge A. Smith. John 
Taylor. Parley P. Prati:, William Smith, Lyman 
Wight and John E. Page, were all absent and far 
away. These with Brigham were the Twelve whom 
Joseph left, and therefore they are the ones to be 
considered in this r .organization. Had this quorum 
been present and the motion made for Brigham 
Young to be President oi the Church in Joseph's 
stead, it is nearly certain that the v te would have 

56 



562 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

stood against the motion — Parley P. Pratt, John 
Taylor, Orson Pratt, William Smith, Lyman Wight, 
John E. Page, George A. Smith, and Wilford 
Woodruff. Of course had such a quorum been 
present, the motion would not have been made, nor 
Orson Hyde been tempted by his ambition to put 
himself in the line of succession. 

Whatever of wrong there may be in the great 
affairs of mankind, the history thereof will in due 
time meet that wrong for judgment. 

Answer now to this then, O, ye judges of Israel, 
for you have done this day at Winter Quarters what 
the President of the Twelve declared three years 
and a half before at Nauvoo the Church could not 
do : " You can not fill the office of a prophet, seer and 
revelator ! God must do this /" 

At the bar of God, Brigham and the Twelve who 
did this thing will have to answer to these solemn 
words : "You can not take any man and put him at 
the head; you would scatter the Saints to the four 
winds ; you would sever the priesthood. So long 
as we remain as we are the heavenly head is in con- 
stant co-operation with us ; but if you go out of 
that course, God will have nothing to do with you." 

Since that day Brigham Young has often been 
spoken of both in America and Europe as the 
" Mormon empire-founder." He was thus styled by 
Stansbury, Gunnison, and the early travelers and 
visitors to Utah. And this typing of Brigham was 
from an intuitive perception of the man's character 
and designs, as well as from his own expositions of 
himself in the institutions which he attempted to 
found. The body and soul of his social and religi- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 563 

ous work at a later date was by Judge McKean 
compounded in one strong type-name — "Polygamic 
Theocracy." And what made the type more strik- 
ing, was the extraordinary fact that this Chief Jus- 
tice of Utah brought Polygamic Theocracy to the 
bar literally in the person of Brigham Young. 

Utah and her people then must be understood 
from the first to have borne Brigham Young's types 
of character and spirit. All her methods and institu- 
tions were like her founder. He truly was her hus- 
band. If Brigham Young in his spirit, character, 
and physical impulses meant Polygamic Theocracy, 
then Utah also meant the same. He was the incar- 
nation, and out of himself Polygamic Theocracy 
grew. It was never an adoption, but a creation. 
He was absolutely its father. Impossible that he 
could have adopted it from Joseph Smith, for it 
was created in the image, likeness, and soul of 
Brigham Young. 

Absolutely necessary for an intelligent compre- 
hension of the Mormon people is it that there 
should be strongly marked in their history the two 
types of the Church represented, the first in Joseph 
Smith, the second in Brigham Young. 

The first type was that of a Spiritual Church. 

The second type was that of a Temporal Church. 

These two phases make up the very body and 
soul of Mormon history, and afford the sociologist 
a philosophical explanation for the strange anomo- 
lies and contradictions with which their history 
abound. It gives an intelligible reason why at one 
moment he is forced to a burst of admiration over 
the history of this " strange people," and at the 



564 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

next moment to an angry outburst of the severest 
condemnation. It also explains the reverse actions 
of the Mormons, so often met in their history, and 
and at the same time gives the link of consistency. 
At first the spiritual and temporal are found often 
in conflict; but, as the spirit of the latter subdued 
the spirit of the former, there grew up that type of 
Utah, so well known in the history of the last quar- 
ter of a century, which has made polygamic Mor- 
monism the notorious sensation of America. 

The exodus having been delayed until 1847-48, 
when the Territory of Utah was occupied it was a 
part of the province of Upper California, in Mexico, 
but it was soon ceded to the United States; and 
hence it was necessary for the Apostles to organize 
their community as a part of the nation. In apply- 
ing for the nation's recognition, however, they urged 
the capacity of their people for self-government, 
and dwelt upon their essentially organic condition 
as a society. They applied for admission as the 
" State of Deseret." In their scheme their peculiar 
national economy was as important as their religi- 
ous organization. And, although it has not been 
recognized, this " State of Deseret " has existed 
from the beginning, and has practically governed 
Utah. Not until the rule of the late Governor 
Shaeffer could the general government reach the 
executive functions of the Territory for a practical 
administration of its affairs. In effect, Brigham 
Young has been the potentate. Hence the signifi- 
cance of one of the Mormon national anthems: 

" God bless our Propliet, Priest, and King — • 
Our leader, Brigham Young." . 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 565 

The Territorial dispensation did not stand in the 
way of the hierarchy, since, under President Fill- 
more, the governmental machinery was controlled 
by the Apostles. •Brigham Young was appointed 
Governor and Indian Agent, and Almon W. Babbitt, 
secretary. The Chief Justice and his associates 
were the only United States men in the administra- 
tion. Practically the Mormon leaders obtained 
what they desired — self-government; and Utah, in 
all her cities and settlements, grew up under the 
most complete hierarchical rule that Christendom 
has ever seen, not excepting even the Papal rule. 

The foundation of the kingdom as it was con- 
ceived having been fairly laid, now came the pro- 
clamation to all the world. The lot fell upon Orson 
Pratt to preach the first discourse on " Celestial 
Marriage." This was done in the Tabernacle, Salt 
Lake City, August 29th, 1852, at a Special Confer- 
ence, and ever since that fatal day the Apostle Pratt 
has been esteemed as the elected champion of poly- 
gamy. 

In the afternoon, while the Sacrament was being 
passed, Brigham Young delivered a discourse on the 
so-called revelation which he was about to exhume. 
To-day the following passages will be regarded as 
worthy to be classed among the oddities of history. 

" You heard Brother Pratt state this morning, that 
a revelation would be read this afternoon, which 
was given previous to Joseph's^death. It contains a 
doctrine a small portion of the world is opposed to; 
but I can deliver a prophecy upon it. Though that 
doctrine has not been practised by the Elders, this 
people have believed in it for years. The original 



566 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

copy of this revelation was burnt up. William Clay- 
ton was the man who wrote it from the mouth of 
the Prophet. In the meantime it was in Bishop 
Whitney's possession. He wished the privilege to 
copy it, which Brother Joseph granted. Sister Emma 
burnt the original. The reason I mention this, is be- 
cause that the people who did know of the revelation, 
suppose it is not now in existence. The revelation 
will be read to you. The principle spoken upon by 
Brother Pratt, this morning, we believe in. And I 
tell you — for I know it — it will sail over and ride 
triumphantly above all the prejudice and priestcraft 
of the day : it will be fostered and believed in by 
the more intelligent portions of the world, as one 
of the best doctrines ever proclaimed to any people. 
Your hearts need not beat ; you need not think that 
a mob is coming here to tread upon the sacred lib- 
erty which the Constitution of our country guaran- 
tees unto us, for it will not be. * _ * ■* One of the 
Senators in Congress knew it "very well. Did he 
oppose it? No! But he has been our friend all 
the day long, especially upon that subject. * * * 
Many others are of the same mind; they are not 
ignorant of what we are doing in our social capacity. 
They have cried out, ' Proclaim it ;' but it would not 
do a few years ago ; everything must come in its 
time, as there is a time to all things. I am now 
ready to proclaim it. This revelation has been in 
my possession many years ; and who has known it? 
I keep a patent lock on my desk, and there does 
not anything leak out that should not." 



Relative to Sister Emma Smith's "burning the 
original," we pass by, simply observing that there 
will be given before the close of this history what 
may be considered her dying testimony on this very 
matter, written not more than two months before 



LIFE OF TOSEPH THE PROPHET. 567 

her death. Such a solemn testament in history 
must be all-potent and unanswerable. 

Orson Pratt was next sent to Washington to 
proclaim polygamy in the capital, to the rulers and 
legislators of the American nation ; while the learn- 
ed theologian, Orson Spencer, published a pamphlet 
on the "Patriarchal Order of Marriage," and Parley 
P. Pratt published another, entitled " Marriage and 
Morals in Utah." 

Here the attention of those who have understood 
(though most unwarrantably) that Mormonism was 
polygamic in its very origin and genius, is called to 
the well marked historical fact that the Latter Day 
Church was established nearly twenty-three years 
before the proclamation of polygamy, and that the 
British Mission was nearly sixteen years of age 
before it was published in Great Britain ; the " rev- 
elation " being copied in No. i of the Millennial 
Star, January, 1853. The stern fact is that the 
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was 
betrayed into polygamy. Nearly all its members 
were converted before 1853. At about the year 
1850, under the presidency of Orson Pratt, nearly 
eighteen thousand souls came into the Church in 
Great Britain in one year; but since the publication 
of polygamy, the British Mission (which in 1852 
consisted of 742 branches organized into over fifty 
grand divisions called "conferences," with 33,257 
members, and the increase for the six months by 
baptism 3,400) has declined till in 1879 lt numbers 
but a few thousand souls, leaving, verily, but the 
ruins of that once mighty mission. Before the pub- 
lication of polygamy, not even did the Methodist 



568 LI,,; OF JOSEPH THE prophet. 

Church in G eat Britain match the Mormon Church 
for its wonc erful organisms ; while the conversion 
of souls to the faith, from its rise in 1837 in Pres- 
ton, England, to 1852, has no parallel in the history 
of ChurV-.es: (It must be remembered that tens 01 
thousands had also emigrated to America before 
1852). Thus it will be seen at a glance what poly- 
gamy has done for the Mormon Church in its mis- 
sionary apostleship : destroyed the very nursery oj 
the Church! 

As an example of what an amount of implacable 
priestly force it took to subdue the Mormon women 
to polygamy, even in the most terrible isolation 
ever known to any society either in ancient or mod- 
ern times, take the following passages from a ser- 
mon delivered by President Young, Sunday, Sep- 
tember 2 1 st, 1856: 

"Now for my proposition ; it is more particularly 
for my sisters, as it is frequently happening that 
women say that they are unhappy. Men will say, 
1 My wife, though a most excellent woman, has not 
seen a happy day for a year ;' and another has not 
seen a happy day for five years. It is said that 
women are tied down and abused ; that they are 
misused and ha.e not the liberty that they ought 
to have ; that many of them are wading through 
a perfect flood of tears, because of the conduct of 
some men, together with their own folly. 

" I wish my own women to understand that what 
I am going to say is for them as well as others, and 
I want those who are here to tell their sisters, yes, 
all the women of this community, and then write 
it back to the States, and do as you please with it. 
I am going to give you from this time to the 6th 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 569 

day of October next, for reflection, that you may 
determine whether you wish to stay with your hus- 
bands or not, and then I am going to set every wo- 
man at liberty, and say to them, ' Now go your way, 
my women with the rest, go your way. And my 
wives have got to do one of two things, either round 
up their shoulders to endure the afflictions of this 
world and live their religion, or they may leave, for 
I will not have them about me. I will go into heav- 
en alone, rather than have you scratching and fight- 
ing around me. I will set all at liberty.' 'What, 
first wife too ?' Yes, I will liberate you all. I know 
what my women will say; they will say, 'You can 
have as many women as you please, Brigham.' But 
I want to go somewhere and do something to get 
rid of the whiners." 



Thus have we a terrible ecclesiastical measure of 
universal divorce' devised and threatened in the 
Tabernacle in the presence of trembling thousands 
of poor, heart-broken wives, and this as a necessary 
expedient in the establishment of polygamy. Often 
has this sermon of President Young been quoted to 
illustrate the man's ruthless nature. We do not so 
consider it. Rather is polygamy the ruthless insti- 
tution ! Brigham Young said and did nothing more 
than that doctrine made necessary. If the Apostles 
were bent on establishing that dreadful system, 
Brigham was no more to blame for his universal 
divorce measure than the surgeon for cutting off a 
foot that is mortifying to save the life of the person 
by so much sacrifice. And if the Lord was bent 
upon it — nay, the blasphemy shall not be completed; 
let the matter rest with Brigham and these Twelve 
Apostles. 



570 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Of one thing the Mormons of Utah may be 
assured: the United States will never be one hun- 
dredth part as ruthless in its measures to rid the 
world of this hideous polygamy as their Apostles 
were in their measures to establish it. 

Polygamy brought the "irrepressible conflict" 
between the United States Judges and the Utah 
hierarchy. The Judges urged the American nation 
to action. Polygamy resulted in the "Utah war" 
of 1857-8. 

But this event was preceded by what is known in 
Mormon history as the Reformation. It was a 
period of such horrible teachings that to-day the 
Mormon people of Utah shudder at its very remem- 
brance, for it does not by any means represent their 
sentiments or their humanity. During this period 
the " Blood-atonement " doctrine was publicly taught 
in the Tabernacle, and President Jedediah M. Grant 
actually proposed the erection of an altar for human 
sacrifice to priestly vengeance. It was a reign of 
terror indeed to the " apostate." Never did Romish 
priests in the days of the Holy Inquisition preach 
sermons inspired more with the malice of the infer- 
nal regions than were preached by Apostles in the 
Salt Lake Tabernacle. Instead of Zion coming 
down from heaven, hell seemed to be coming from 
beneath to take up its abode in the valleys of Utah. 
Jedediah M. Grant towered like some classical mon- 
ster of blood and vengeance. There was nothing 
modern in his thoughts or methods. It seemed as 
though the Mormons were rushing back to the sav- 
age barbarisms of the early ages. Jedediah M. 
Grant died a victim of his horrible enthusiasm — a 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 571 

maniac in his death ; let it be mercifully hoped that 
his Creator will adjudge him as a maniac in the lat- 
ter days of his ministry. 

The Reformation gave to Utah the bloody animus 
for the Mountain Meadow Massacre. True this 
savage economy inaugurated in 1856 was not design- 
ed against the Gentiles, but rather to be operative 
in Israel; yet extraordinary circumstances coming 
with a rush, from that date the Reformation found 
its consummation in that massacre of massacres. 

The consummation of all these causes — polyga- 
my, the supposed designs of the Mormon leaders 
to set up a kingdom when their "due time" came, 
and the conflict with the United States Judges 
brought the Utah war. 

Yet it is not just to Brigham Young to say that 
he designed this Utah Rebellion, or that he intend- 
ed to commit any overt act of treason against the 
United States. Tile issue was forced upon him by 
the action of the Government in sending an army 
to take Utah under a military guardianship. 

The explanation and reconciliation of seemingly 
conflicting ideas may thus be stated : The Mormon 
Apostles had long been looking for a grand disin- 
tegration of the Union, and a war between the 
North and the South. A dispensation of State 
Sovereignty would then prevail. Before the termin- 
ation of this civil war almost the very "consumma- 
tion of things" was expected; and it was during 
such a time that the Kingdom of Zion was to be 
set up. " The signs already appeared f ' 

The people were celebrating the twenty- fourth of 
July — the anniversary of the Pioneers — in Big Cot- 



572 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

tonwood Canyon, when the news reached them of 
the coming of the troops to invade their homes. 
The view must be faithfully given as they themselves 
saw it. 

They had conquered the desert. Cities were fast 
springing up in the solitary places, where cities had 
never been planted before, and in valleys that had 
once been the bed of the great sea, civilization was 
spreading. 

A plentiful harvest was promised that year, and 
every circumstance of their situation seemed favor- 
able, except the lack of postal communication with 
the East. Their isolation, in this particular, had 
kept them in ignorance, up to that time, of the 
movements of the Government concerning them. 

On the 22nd of July, 1857, numerous teams were 
seen wending their way, by different routes, to the 
mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, where they halt- 
ed for the night. Next morning Governor Young 
led the van of the long line of carriages and wagons, 
and before noon the cavalcade reached the camp 
ground at the Cottonwood Lake, which nestles in 
the bosom of the mountains, 8,000 feet above the 
level of the sea. Early in the afternoon, the com- 
pany, numbering 2,587 persons encamped, and soon 
all were busy with the arrangements for the morrow. 
It will be seen, at a glance, that this was intended 
to be a pioneer jubilee indeed; not in a city, but in 
primitive surroundings, suggestive of their entrance 
into these valleys ten years before. 

Early on the following morning the people assem- 
bled, the choir sang, prayers were offered, the stars 
and stripes unfurled on the two highest peaks in 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 573 

sight of the camp, on the two tallest trees, and then 
came military evolutions. 

At noon, Bishop A. O. Smoot, Elder Judson Stod- 
dard, Judge Elias Smith, and O. P. Rockwell, rode 
into camp, the two former from the " States," (Mis- 
souri River), in twenty days. They brought news 
of the coming of the troops. It was the first tidings 
of war. 

In a moment the festive sone was changed to the 
theme of war; the jubilee of a people swelled into a 
sublime declaration of independence. Never before 
did such a spirit of heroism so suddenly and complete- 
ly possess an entire community. Men and women 
shared it alike. They resolved on war with the 
United States. It was madness, but it was an ex- 
traordinary madness. Only the Mormons could 
give such an example; and it would be impossible 
for the historian to touch it without some expression 
of admiration ; indeed, "all the world" admired and 
was astonished. 

It is unnecessary to dwell upon the details of that 
Utah war. Suffice it to say, "Governor Young" 
put the Territory under martial law, ordered the 
United States troops back in "the name of the 
United States," and executed what is styled the 
' Second Mormon Exodus;" while the United States 
Government sent out Commissioners, " made peace " 
with the Mormons, and granted a general pardon 
for the " rebellion." 

In spite of their wrong doing, — in spite of their 
madness, the Mormon people were preserved. Un- 
der the curse as under the blessing, Israel is still 
Jehovah's monument! — now the monument of His 



574 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

favor, now the monument of His wrath, yet Israel 
endures for ever ! 

Meantime the Mountain Meadow Massacre had 
occurred. This historian in his researches has never 
connected Brigham Young directly with that terrible 
event. The causes seem to him to be best explain- 
ed in the general history — the chief of which was the 
bloody spirit of the Reformation, and the circum- 
stances of the Utah war itself, with the Territory 
under martial law, and society in a state of fierce 
disorder. The causes seem to be adequate and the 
explanation in general terms quite consistent. 

There is nothing in history more demoniac in its 
spirit and execution than the Massacre of the Moun- 
tain Meadows ; and what makes it more horrible to 
the civilized imagination, is the fact that a church, 
and a priesthood, are held responsible for it. The 
Mormon people, however, are not more guilty of 
part or sanction in this bloody sacrifice than the 
people of Illinois are of the blood of Joseph and 
Hyrum Smith. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

ELDERS MOVED UPON BY THE HOLY GHOST TO RE- 
STORE THE CHURCH THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD 

PROCLAIMS " YOUNG JOSEPH " AS HIS FATHER'S 

SUCCESSOR HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE RISE 

OF THE REORGANIZED CHURCH THE AMBOY 

CONFERENCE. 

History is. like Nature in her types. There is an 
historic day and an historic night. More strongly 
defined even than in profane history is this dual 
typing of Israel's history, as well in the latter as in 
the former days. There is the short chapter of 
Israel faithful, blessed and accepted; there is the 
long, the terrible* chapter of Israel in transgression, 
rejected, under the curse. Yet in this age of Mes- 
siah's coming, the promise to Zion is : 

" When the Enemy shall come in like a flood, the 
Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against 
him. 

" And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto 
them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith 
the Lord. 

" As for me this is my covenant with thein, saith 
the Lord; My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words 
which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out 
of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor 
out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, 
from henceforth and forever." 



57§ LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

In the fulfillment of the one half of the subject of 
Isaiahs prophecy we have the history of the Latter- 
day Church during the lifetime of her Prophet. The 
completion of her historic period to the crowning 
time when the Redeemer shall come to Zion is to 
be under the ministry of the " Seed " of Messiah's 
Messenger. 

The lifting up of this standard by the Spirit of 
the Lord in the last days to restore the Church 
from its partial fall, gives the historic subject of the 
Reorganization under "Young Joseph." It is prop- 
erly opened by Jason W. Briggs, first standard-bear- 
er of Israel's return. In his historical sketch he 
says : 

" In the general disorder and darkness that pre- 
vailed from the death of Joseph Smith, here and 
there appeared a gleam of light and hope, — a man- 
ifestation of the Spirit that all was not lost, but that 
truth should yet prevail. Many ran to and fro in 
the character of prophets, leaders and shepherds. 
Among these appeared William Smith, who, in the 
Spring of 1850, called a conference at Covington, 
Kentucky ; from which time he visited many of the 
branches and scattered Saints, teaching " lineal 
priesthood " as applying to the Presidency of the 
Church ; and thus disposing of all pretenders already 
arisen, or to arise out of the posterity of the original 
President of the Church. This principle, though 
pretty clearly shown in the books, had been almost 
entirely overlooked or forgotten by the Saints; but, 
when their attention was thus called to it, many at 
once received it as the solution of the question of 
Presidency. William Smith taught also in connec- 
tion with this, that it was his right, as the only sur- 
viving brother of the former President, and uncle 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 577 

and natural guardian of the seed of Joseph, to stand, 
during the interim, as President pro tan. And in 
this there seemed a general acquiesence on the part 
of the Saints among whom he labored; and he was 
so acknowledged, and began to organise, choosing 
Lyman Wight and Aaron Hook as Counselors pro 
tern, to the President pro te?n, and Joseph Wood as 
Counselor and Spokesman. Many branches, and 
nearly all the Saints in Northern Illinois and South- 
ern Wisconsin were identified with this movement, 
and among them was enjoyed a large measure of 
the spiritual gifts. 

" During the Spring and Summer of 185 1, Pales- 
tine, in Lee County, Illinois, had been designated as 
a Stake, and become the residence of Wm. Smith, 
Wood, Hook and others; and the two former had 
visited most of the branches in Wisconsin, among 
which was the one at Beloit, Rock County. This 
branch was originally raised up by the labors and 
ministry of Jason W. Briggs, in 1843, who was their 
Presiding Elder at the time of this movement." * * 

The seeds of dissolution were, however, sown in 
the organization effected by these men, William 
Smith and others ; for, at a conference held at Pal- 
estine, in October, in the year 1851, a confession of 
belief and practice of polygamy was made, which 
resulted in separating many from that body at once, 
and was the means of its ultimate disbanding. 
Elder Briggs further continues : 

"Among those who attended that conference 
were James Blakeslee, Alva Smith, Edwin Cadwell, 
C. F. Stiles and E. R. Briggs of Illinois; and Ira J. 
Patten, David Powell, Henry Lowe, John Harring- 
ton, John Neil and J. W. Briggs of Wisconsin. 
The latter named, upon returning to his home, per- 



573 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

plexed with this intermingling of truth and falsehood, 
of right and wrong, light and darkness, sought unto 
God for its solution, in fervent and continued prayer. 
And while pondering in my heart the situation of 
the Church, on the 18th day of November, 185 1, on 
the prairie, about three miles northwest of Beloit, 
Wisconsin, the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, 
and the visions of truth opened to my mind, and 
the Spirit of the Lord said unto me : 

"'Verily, verily, saith the Lord, even Jesus Christ, unto his 
servant, Jason W. Briggs, concerning the Church: — Behold I 
have not cast off my people; neither have I changed in regard 
to Zion. Yea, verily, my people shall be redeemed, and my 
law shall be kept which I revealed unto my servant Joseph 
Smith, Jr., for I am God and not man, and who is he that shall 
turn me from my purpose, or destroy whom I would preserve ? 
Wolves have entered into the flock, and who shall deliver them ? 
Where is he that giveth his life for the flock? Behold I will 
judge those who call themselves shepherds, and have preyed 
upon the flock of my pastures. * * * 

" 'Therefore, let the Elders whom I have ordained by the hand 
of my servant Joseph, or by the hand of those ordained by him, 
resist not this authority, nor faint in the discharge of duty, 
which is to preach my gospel as revealed in the record of the 
Jews, and the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Doctrine and 
Covenants; and cry repentance and remission of sins through 
obedience to the gospel, and I will sustain them and give them 
my Spirit; and in my own due time will I call upon the seed 
of Joseph Smith, and I will bring one forth, and he shall be 
mighty and strong, and he shall preside over the High 
Priesthood of my Church; and then shall the quorums as- 
semble, and the pure in heart shall gather, and Zion shall be 
re-inhabited, as I said unto my servant Joseph Smith; — after 
many days shall all these things be accomplished, saith the 
Spirit. Behold, that which ye received as my celestial law is 
not of me, but is the doctrine of Baalam. And I command you 
to denounce it and proclaim against it; and I will give you 
power, that none shall be able to withstand your words, if you 
rely upon me; for my Spirit shall attend you. 

"'And the Spirit said unto me, Write, write, write, write the 
revelation and send it unto the Saints at Palestine, and at Voree, 
and at Waukesha, and to all places where this doctrine is taught 
as my law; and whomsoever will humble themselves before 
me, and ask of me, shall receive of my Spirit a testimony that 
these words are of me. Even so, Amen.' " 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 579 

Obedient to the command of the Spirit, Elder 
Jason Briggs sent the revelation to the remnant of 
the Church by the hands of Elder David Powell, 
who first sought the co-labor of Elder Deam, a High 
Priest of Joseph's time, and together these sought 
Elder Zenas H. Gurley. Brother Powell in report- 
ing his mission to Elder Jason W. Briggs stated that 
Elder Deam " fell in " with the revelation ; where- 
upon these two brethren counseled together con- 
cerning "the best way to save Brother Gurley and 
the branch he presided over from the evils of Strang- 
ism. Knowing his great influence in the branch, 
they labored with him privately, but Elder Gurley 
saw not at first that it was in very deed the Spirit 
of the Lord that was lifting up the standard and 
foretelling the coming of 'Young Joseph 'to lead 
Israel in his father's stead. At length, however, the 
Spirit prevailed and Elder Gurley promised that 'he 
would get his Book* of Doctrine and Covenants and 
go to preaching lineal priesthood.'" The narrative 
of Elder Powell continues: 

" I left him and went to Wingville, where I found 
Brother John Cunningham ; " thence " to Potosi and 
British Hollow, in Grant County, (Wisconsin), where 
I found Brother Samuel Blair, and Brother Ethan 
Griffith. The result was, they all came into the 
Church; and I returned to Yellowstone about the 
1st of June. Brother Gurley had turned the whole 
branch; he did not lose a member, and there was 
great rejoicing in the branch, to think that God was 
about to call upon one of the seed of Joseph." 

As the history of all religious movements is fullest 
and most life-like when gathered from harmonious 



580 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

records of its founders, this shall be a blending of 
Apostolic narratives which in themselves will very 
graphically illustrate the subject of the Spirit of the 
Lord lifting up the standard against the Enemy 
who had come in like a flood upon the Church. 
" Father Gurley " is next in order bearing the stand- 
ard. In 1850 he had raised up a church called the 
Yellowstone Branch. He says: 

" I moved my family into this section, and con- 
tinued my labors with the Church, teaching them 
the principles of the gospel as revealed from heaven 
to us through Joseph the Seer. During this time 
several strange things came to my knowledge, that 
fully satisfied me that unless good and evil, bitter 
and sweet could proceed from the same fountain, 
neither J. J. Strang, Brigham Young, William Smith, 
nor any that had claimed to be prophets, since 
Joseph's death, were the servants of God. 

" The enquiry arose in my mind, What shall we 
do? Here are a few honest Saints who have obey- 
ed the gospel, and who are looking to me for in- 
struction. What can I say ? What can I teach 
them? 

"Thus I meditated for months. God, and God 
only, knows what the anguish of my mind was. 
But I resolved that I would preach the word ; and, 
thank God, preaching brought me out all right. 

" It was after preaching on Sunday evening, in 
the fall of 185 1, while sitting in my chair at Brother 
Wildermuth's house, my mind was drawn to Isaiah 
2:2, 3. At that moment the great work of the last 
days, as it is spoken of by the prophet in that chap- 
ter, seemed to pass before me in all its majesty and 
glory. It appeared that I could see all nations in 
motion, and coming to the ' Mountain of the Lord's 
house.' Then Strang's Beaver Island operation 



LIFE OF TOSEPH THE PROPHET. 581 

appeared oefore me. It looked mean and contempt- 
ible beyond description. A voice — the Spirit of 
God — then said to me, (alluding to Strang's work), 
'Can this ever effect this ereat work?' I answer- 
ed ' No, Lord.' I felt ashamed to think that I had 
ever thought so. The voice then said, 'Rise up, 
cast off all that claim to be prophets, and go forth 
and preach the gospel, and say that God will raise 
up a prophet to complete his work.' I answered, 
'Yea, Lord.' 

"As I left the house, my mind was dwelling upon 
what had just transpired. Although the Spirit had 
told me that God would raise up a prophet to com- 
plete his work, it did not enter my mind at that 
time that I would realize the work in its present 
form. My whole desires were that those dear souls 
around me might enjoy the gifts and blessings of 
the gospel as the Saints did in Joseph's time, and be 
saved from those meshes of iniquity which thousands 
had run into. 

" A few weeks afterwards, while reading a para- 
graph in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, which 
says, 4 If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall 
be full of light;' the Spirit said to me again, ' Rise 
up, cast off all that claim to be prophets, and go 
forth and preach the gospel, and say that God will 
raise up a prophet to complete his work.' I answer- 
ed, ' I will do it, God being my helper.' 

" From that time, I began to look about in earnest 
for a starting point. I examined the book carefully, 
and saw at once that the teachings of the day were 
contrary to the law, and resolved that though I had 
but one talent, yet in the name of Israel's God I 
would go forward and leave the result with him. 

" At this time I was laboring with Brother Reuben 
Newkirk, a young and worthy brother. I explained 
my views to him, and he endorsed them at once. 
The Spirit of God was with us, and day after day 



582 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

was spent holding council about the matter, until 
one day (being at work together in a lone place) 
we joined hands, and in a most solemn manner 
entered into a covenant, calling God to witness, that 
we would from that hour renounce all that claimed 
to be prophets, and take the Bible, Book of Mor- 
mon, Book of Covenants and the Holy Spirit for 
our guide. This was a new era in my existence. 
In Joseph's time I had stood with thousands of the 
servants of God, and counted it an honor to call 
them brethren; but, alas, how changed the scene! 
One, only one remained of my associates that I could 
call brother. At times how dark, how dark was the 
future ! 

"O, Brother Sheen, could I at that time have been 
permitted to realize what I have enjoyed with you 
and other dear Saints within a few weeks past, how 
gladly would I have stemmed the torrent, and said 
with the Apostle, ' I count all things but loss for the 
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our 
Lord.' Then we were alone, our brethren around 
us having been taught that Strang was Josephs 
successor, could only look upon us as apostates 
when they became acquainted with our position. 
We seemed to be hedged in. Darkness was all 
around us on every side. Light was only above us. 
Well, thank God we proved him to be a present 
helper. 

" A few days after we had entered into this cov- 
enant, while Brother Newkirk was in secret prayer, 
the Holy Spirit rested upon him. He arose and 
spoke in tongues, and started homewards, speaking 
in tongues and praising God. His wife heard him 
and met him, and shortly after she received the 
same gift and blessing. These gifts were the first 
fruits of the Reformation, (in this branch of the 
Church). 

" About this time David Powell came from Beloit, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 583 

brinoqnor with him a revelation which had been given 
to Jason W. Briggs, sometime in the previous No- 
vember, declaring that the Lord would in his own 
due time call upon the seed of Joseph Smith to 
come forth, and set in order the quorums; in a word 
to fill his father's place. He was commanded to 
write it and send it to all the churches. There 
were some ideas in the revelation that I could not 
receive. I was entirely unacquainted with the 
order of the priesthood as it really is, nevertheless 
I knew that God would raise up a prophet, but who 
he was, or where he would come from, I did not 
know. 

" About ten or fifteen days after I had heard of 
this revelation, while sitting by my evening fire, my 
boys came running into my room, declaring with 
great earnestness that their little sister was up to 
Brother Newkirk's, singing and speaking in tongues. 
For a moment I was overpowered with joy. I ex- 
claimed, ' Is it possible that God has remembered 
my family.' Immediately I went up, and when I 
was within one or two steps of the house, I paused. 
I listened, and O, the thrill that went through my 
soul! I knew that it was of God. My child, my 
dear child was born of the Holy Spirit. I opened 
the door and went in. It appeared to me that the 
entire room was filled with the Holy Spirit. Shortly 
after I requested them all to join with me in asking 
the Lord to tell us who the successor of Joseph 
was. I felt anxious to know that I might bear a 
faithful testimony. We spent a few moments in 
prayer, when the Holy Spirit declared, 'The suc- 
cessor of Joseph Smith is Joseph Smith the son of 
Joseph Smith the Prophet. It is his right by lin- 
eage, saith the Lord your God.' 

" It is proper here to state that the main body of 
the Church lived from four to eight miles from us, 
and having learned that we had left Strang, they 



584 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

regard rd us as apostates. However it was not long 
after that the gifts were manifested ; and, when they 
came to know that these blessings were indeed with 
us, they admitted that they were of God, and gradu- 
ally, one after another, united with us, until the 
whole branch were made to know the truth of our 
position, and rejoiced with unspeakable joy. Al- 
though this branch had been organized more than 
a year, and striving to live right before God, yet no 
visible shifts had been manifested among us. 

"It was now necessary that we should change our 
organization and position in relation to the Presiden- 
cy of the Priesthood. The Branch had been organ- 
ized under Strang. The Lord had taught us that 
this was wrong; so we appointed a day for the 
purpose of acknowledging the legal heir. 

" The day arrived, and it will be long remembered 
by many that were present. While we were singing 
the opening hymn, the Holy Spirit was sensibly felt. 
Several sung in tongues. A halo of glory seemed 
to be spread over the congregation, and, when we 
bowed before Almighty God in solemn prayer, all 
felt and all knew that what we were about to do 
was approbated of God. 

"After singing, I stated to the Church what was 
the object of our meeting, and requested all who 
wished to renounce J. J. Strang, as a prophet, seer 
and revelator to the Church, and acknowledge the 
seed of Joseph Smith in his stead, to come forth in 
the due time of the Lord, to manifest it by rising up. 

"In a moment the entire congregation stood up, 
and one simultaneous shout of joy and praise went 
up to God for our deliverance. Nearly all the con- 
gregation were under the influence of the Spirit ot 
prophecy, and many important truths relating to the 
triumphant accomplishment of this great work were 
then declared." 

In the fullness of his joy Elder Gurley wrote to 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 585 

Elder Jason W. Briggs, saying, "We have received 
evidence of your revelation," and proposed the call- 
ing of a conference to meet on the ist of June, 1852. 
After some correspondence with the branches, it 
was settled that a conference should be held at the 
Newark Branch, in the town of Beloit, Wisconsin. 
At the appointed time a goodly number of the Saints 
united in this movement gathered, giving proof of 
conviction that the hand of the Lord was upon them 
to accomplish his own work. 

On the first part of the second day of the confer- 
ence, a general survey relative to the Church in its 
rejection was taken by the Elders, after which the 
following resolutions were offered, discussed and 
adopted unanimously: 

" Resolved, That this conference regard the pre- 
tentions of Brigham Young, James J. Strang, James 
Collen Brewster, and William Smith and Joseph 
Woods Joint claims to the leadership of the Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as an assump- 
tion of power, in violation of the law of God ; and 
consequently we disclaim all connection and fellow- 
ship with them. 

" Resolved, That the successor of Joseph Smith, 
junior, as the Presiding High Priest in the Melchis- 
edec Priesthood, must of necessity be of the seed of 
Joseph Smith, junior, in fulfillment of the law and 
promises of God. 

" Resolved, That, as the office of First President 
of the Church grows out of the authority of the 
Presiding High Priest, in the high priesthood, no 
person can legally lay claim to the office of P'irst 
President of the Church, without a previous ordin- 
ation to the presidency of the high priesthood. 

" Resolved, That we recognize the validity of all 



586 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

legal ordinations in this Church, and will fellowship 
all such as have thus been ordained, while acting 
within the purview of such authority. 

" Resolved, That we believe that the Church of 
Christ, organized on the 6th day of April, a.d., 1830, 
exists as on that day, wherever six or more Saints 
are organized, according to the pattern of the Book 
of Doctrine and Covenants. 

" Resolved, That the whole law of the Church of 
Jesus Christ is contained in the Bible, Book of Mor- 
mon, and Doctrine and Covenants. 

" Resolved, That in the opinion of this conference, 
there is no Stake to which the Saints on this conti- 
nent are commanded to gather at the present time; 
but that the Saints on all other lands are command- 
ed to gather to this land, preparatory to the re-es- 
tablishment of the Church in Zion ; when the scatter- 
ed Saints on this land will also be commanded to 
gather and return to Zion, and to their inheritances, 
in fulfillment of the promises of God; and it is the 
duty of the Saints to turn their hearts and their 
faces towards Zion, and supplicate the Lord for 
such deliverance. 

" Resolved, That we will, to the extent of our 
ability and means, communicate to all the scattered 
Saints the sentiments contained in the foregoing 
resolutions. 

" Resolved, That this conference believe it the 
duty of the Elders of this Church, (who have been 
legally ordained), to cry repentance and remission 
of sins to this generation, through obedience to the 
gospel, as revealed in the record of the Jews, the 
Book of Mormon, and Book of Doctrine and Cov- 
enants ; and not faint in the discharge of duty." 

After which in pursuance to the eighth resolution, 
it was motioned, seconded and carried unanimously, 
that a committee of three be appointed to write a 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 587 

pamphlet, (based upon the foregoing resolutions), 
entitled, "A Word of Consolation to the Scattered 
Saints." 

Whereupon Elders Jason W. Briggs, Zenas H. 
Gurley, and John Harrington were appointed said 
committee. 

After a session of two days this conference ad- 
journed to meet at the Yellowstone Branch in 
Lafayette County, Wisconsin, on the 6th of October 
following. The historian Briggs remarks: 

" The position taken by this conference was an 
anomalous one. All similar assemblages or bodies 
convened and acted under the call of a leader or 
head; but this acknowledged none. Others were 
the results of a professed head. This was a pre- 
ceding, or preparatory to an expected head ; and 
the epithet of being a ' headless body ' was freely 
cast at the brethren. Yet to them was visible the 
tokens of divine eare, which, like the cloud of the 
size 'of a man's hand' to the ancient prophet, 
confirmed their faith, that what had been promised 
would surely be fulfilled, in ' the due time of the 
Lord ;' and they were determined to wait and pre- 
pare for that time." 

Continuing his sketch of the Reorganization this 
historian says : 

" From the conference held on June 12th and 13th, 
1852, the work assumed more stability of character, 
and a wider range in its field of labors; for bythis 
time the Saints in Northern Illinois and Southern 
Wisconsin had almost entirely renounced the lead- 
ership of Wm. Smith and Joseph Wood, causing an 
utter dissolution of their organization, the two 
separating and abandoning their ' Stake of Zion,' in 



588 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Lee County, Illinois; and being abandoned by the 
Saints, thus fulfilling the prediction respecting the 
consequences of their rejection. During the sum- 
mer many additions were made to the Church, the 
Elders coming in contact with nearly all the various 
schisms against which they had so distinctly pro- 
nounced in the resolutions of the conference. Mean- 
while a pamphlet had been prepared by the commit- 
tee, more clearly defining the position occupied, and 
at the meeting of the conference, as per adjournment, 
on October Oth, 1852, a much larger attendance was 
had than in the June previous. There had been 
some questioning in regard to a presiding authority 
very naturally suggested by the fact of holding a 
General Conference. It had been suo-£ested to 
ignore all ordinations or pretended ones, above that 
of an Elder, and appoint a president for one year 
from among the Elders ; and this matter was likely 
to engage considerable attention during the sitting 
of the conference, for it was known that the above 
views were generally entertained. Great unanimity 
prevailed upon faith, the doctrine, and the general 
condition of the faith as a whole; but some diver- 
sity existed in regard to priesthood; — Did it remain 
after the rejection of the Church, and if so, what 
was its order, its powers, and its duties ? These 
questions lay at the very foundation ; and, while 
some had been instructed as we have shown, yet 
the body, in respect to numbers, had not seen their 
way out of the mist of darkness, and upon these 
points were undecided. A council of the Elders sat 
upon this and other questions at intervals, during 
the first two days of the conference, and pending 
their deliberations, the committee submitted their 
pamphlet, in manuscript, which was read to the con- 
ference and approved unanimously, and two thou- 
sand copies were ordered printed." 

This pamphlet at the time served as a great man- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 589 

ifesto of the true Latter-clay Saints, but it is not 
profitable to reproduce a tract in an historical digest. 
Its chief points were that by the usurpation of the 
Twelve they had destroyed the " connection and 
harmony between all the quorums." 

" In short," said the circular, "since the coup d 1 etat 
of Brigham Young in the government of the Church, 
a loose rein has been given to the ambitious, and 
that example has furnished a powerful stimulus, to 
go and do likewise. Hence the list of such pretend- 
ers has increased rapidly, and perhaps is not yet 
full; we say that it must follow, that during this 
reign of confusion, consequent upon this captivity, 
there was no call in the very nature of the case, for 
a successor to Joseph, either as Presiding Elder in 
the Church, or Presiding High Priest over the 
Priesthood; and there has been none." 

Relative to Sidney Rigdon the manifesto declared: 

''There was one member of the quorum of the 
First Presidency left, to whom belonged the right of 
presiding, by virtue of his authority as Counselor 
But he. claiming his right under cover of some per- 
formance unknown to the law of God, was rejected 
by the voice of the people. But in doing so, they 
undoubtedly deprived him of that to which he was 
clearly entitled by his ordination ; and conferred it 
upon the traveling high council, who could only in 
the absence of the entire quorum of the First Pres- 
idency preside; or at least one of that quorum, viz., 
the President, and then, as an Apostle — as one of 
the traveling high council, and not as the successor 
of Joseph. Now let us examine the order of Pres- 
idency inthe Church. Supposing the First President 
is absent, who presides in council or in conference? 
The counselors, both, or either of them. And why? 



590 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Because they are the highest authority present. 
True. Then here is the key to unlock the whole 
secret of the Presidency of the Church. Hear it 
then ! The highest authority presides always. 
Hence if the entire quorum of the First Presidency 
is absent, the President of the Twelve must preside 
pro tem., or as representative, by virtue of his ordina- 
tion to the apostleship, and not as the legitimate 
president. And in the absence of the President of 
the Twelve, either of the Twelve; or in the absence 
of that whole quorum, the President of the High 
Priest's Quorum will preside, and so on down to the 
Priest and Deacon ; but each in his turn must pre- 
side by virtue of that authority which he holds by 
actual ordination. Hence if one of the Twelve, 
being the highest authority present, is called to 
preside, he can do nothing not authorized by his 
ordination. That is, they can not administer an 
ordinance, while thus presiding, that they could not 
previously ; for instance, the Twelve are not author- 
ized to ordain a Bishop to the Church, nor do I pre- 
sume they ever, as apostles only, thought of doing 
any thing of the kind ; but when they presumed to 
preside as presidents of the Church, they ordained 
bishops, which was clearly in violation of the law. 
Hence the only legitimate Presidency in the Church, 
since the death of Joseph, have been representatives 
of the rightful heir, or true successor." 

The following resolution was then offered : 

" Resolved, That in the opinion of this confer- 
ence, the one holding the highest priesthood in the 
Church is to preside, and represent the rightful heir 
to the presidency of the high priesthood in a pre- 
siding capacity." 

This circular was the soundest constitutional state- 
ment upon the orders of the priesthood and their 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 59 1 

limits made since the death of the Prophet. Indeed, 
it shows the only effort to regulate the priesthood 
and the Church by its constitutional law; for, while 
the Twelve, with some sophistry of order, usurped 
the Presidency and absorbed the whole economy of 
priesthood, the other pretenders claimed by special 
appointment, or divine right inhering in themselves, 
yet in some sort connected with the first prophet's 
mission. Here was a righteous effort to restore the 
Church to her rock of constitutional law and priest- 
hood, according to the sacred books of the Church. 
The unprofitable questions which so long occupied 
the Utah division as to whether Sidney or Brigham 
should have succeeded Joseph, or which of all the 
Twelve was the fittest man to lead the Church, 
resulting in a decision upon Brigham's executive 
character, have no parallel considerations in this 
wise constitutional circular. Its methods were most 
simple, yet comprehensive. It went to the root of 
the matter. Young Joseph was the rightful heir; 
and the only legitimate presidency possible must be 
in his name, till God should send him in due time to 
take his place as the ''Seed" contemplated in the 
very covenant of the priesthood in the last days. 
This building upon the covenant of the Church was' 
building upon the rock. The Twelve in the organic 
magnitude of an apostles' quorum, with all the other 
quorums under them, built a church upon another 
foundation — the Twelve. They built upon sand ! 
Already has their foundation shifted repeatedly, and 
usurpation has succeeded usurpation. The fall of 
their house is certain ; but from the day that these 
apostles of the Reorganization began to rebuild the 



592 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Church upon Jehovah's covenant — "in Joseph and 
his Seed and his Seed's seed for ever" — every new 
development of their work has shown that they 
have surely been building upon the Rock of ages, — 
for Jehovah who made the covenant is the rock of 
his spiritual temple. 

Yet was the task most difficult for these Elders to 
effect an acceptable organization among themselves 
and for the Church till the coming of the prophet. 
Touching the presidency of the Church as inhering 
in Young Joseph, and the promise of his destiny 
by the Holy Ghost which they had received, all 
was established. But a new difficulty arose when 
the attempt was made to designate who among them 
held the highest office and was entitled to be sus- 
tained as a presiding authority, there having been 
many unwarrantable ordinations in the different 
factions. After earnest discussion it was determined 
that all ordinations not within the limits of the law 
should be ignored, and all within the limit recog- 
nized. This excluded all above an High Priest, 
who being the highest recognized, was sustained as 
the presiding authority. 

"At this conference," says the historian Briggs, 
"the gifts were abundantly enjoyed, and the Saints 
were greatly strengthened and assured of the tri- 
umph of the work of restoration to the old paths. 
Also, during these meetings, we were forewarned of 
the war between the South and the North, its san- 
guinary character and its extent; also, the success 
of the North was portrayed in all the vivid exact- 
ness of the subsequent history of the civil war." 

" From this conference the Elders returned to 
their homes and fields of labor with a deeper sense 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 593 

of responsibility and a more determined purpose to 
hold up the standard of Christ, raised anew by the 
Spirit's power, which manifested from time to time 
that we should organize in preparation for the re- 
establishment of the Quorums and First Presidency 
of the Church, according to the pattern in the Book 
of Covenants. But how this was to be brought 
about no one presumed to know." 

During the interval to January, 1853, the Elders 
were zealous in the ministry. In the meantime the 
subject of polygamy had become a prevailing topic. 
The revelation on polygamy had been exhumed by 
Brigham Young in Salt Lake City, and republished 
by Orson Pratt in Washington. Pratt's polygamic 
"Seer" was received; whereupon the Spirit signified 
to the Church that the Saints should meet in fast- 
ing and prayer to receive instruction upon this most 
vital matter. Elder Zenas H. Gurley shall describe 
the occasion : 

" Before opening the meeting we made the 
Church acquainted with our design, and while 
singing the opening hymn, the Holy Ghost was 
sensibly felt. Several sung in tongues, and while 
engaged in prayer, the veil was at least partly rent, 
and the manifestation of the Spirit was such as sel- 
dom witnessed by mortals on earth. I have been 
a member 'of the Church some twenty-three years, 
and. in the course of my ministry have witnessed 
the manifestation of the Spirit in many of the 
branches, but never had witnessed what I did that 
evening. God was truly with us, and many felt to 
say with the poet, 'Angels now are hovering o'er us.' 
This was on the eve of the 9th of January, 1853, 
ever memorable with the Saints of God. About 
half an hour afterwards we received through the 



594 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Spirit the following, as nearly as we could write it: 

"'Polygamy is an abomination in the sight of the Lord God; 
it is not of me; I abhor it. I abhor it, as also the doctrines' of 
the Nicolaitans, and the men who practice it. I judge them not; 
I judge not those who practice it. Their works shall judge 
them at the last day. Be ye strong, for ye shall contend against 
this doctrine. Many will be led into it honestly, for the devil 
will seek to establish it and roll it forth to deceive. They seek 
to build up their own kingdoms to suit their own pleasure; but 
I countenance it not, saith God. I have given my law; I shrink 
not from my word. My law is given in the Book of Doctrine 
and Covenants ; but they have disregarded my law, and trampled 
upon it, and counted it a light thing, and obeyed it not; but my 
word is the same yesterday, as to-day and for ever. 

"'As you have desired to know of me concerning the pam- 
phlet, it is written in part, but not in [sufficient] plainness; it 
requires three more pages to be written, for it shall go forth in 
great plainness, combatting this doctrine; and all who receive 
it not, it shall judge at the last day. Let this be the voice or 
the Lord in the pamphlet, for it shall go forth in great plain- 
ness, and many will obey it and turn unto me, saith the Lord.'" 

This testimony was given in the name and by the 
authority of the Holy Spirit, and written at the time, 
in answer to the prayers with fastings, of the whole 
Church assembled. In obedience to the above 
instruction an article was written against polygamy 
by J. W. Briggs, as chairman of the committee. 

The narrative is continued thus by Elder Gurley: 

" Shortly after this communication was given, it 
was intimated by the Spirit that we must organize. 
This was strange teaching to me. I replied, It is 
impossible for us to organize further than we have. 
I knew that we could not create a priesthood. I 
conversed with several brethren upon the subject, 
and we set it down as a mistake. It was now March. 
Our April Conference was near at hand, and we 
were unable to decide on the validity of the ordina- 
tions of our brethren, who were present at the Fall 
Conference, and as we all felt satisfied with the 
answer to our enquiry concerning polygamy, we 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 595 

thought the most proper course for us was to make 
this also a subject of prayer. Accordingly we pre- 
sented a question something like this : Were those 
ordained apostles by William Smith recognized by 
God?' 

" The manifestation of the Spirit was fully equal 
to .that on former occasions; and perhaps it is well 
to say that this was the first time that the angels of 
God were seen present in our meetings. I did not 
see them ; but before they were seen, the Spirit 
declared through me that they were near, and 
immediately after, several were transfixed as it were, 
by the power of God, as were many in the days of 
King Benjamin. 

" Some little time elapsed, nearly an hour I judge, 
before we received an answer to our enquiry. We 
were then told that those ordinations were not ac- 
ceptable, — were not of God ; and near the close of 
the communication we were told expressly to organ- 
ize ourselves, ■ For ere long, saith the Lord, I will 
require the Prophet at your hand.' Such was the 
manifestation of the power of God, that not a doubt 
was left in our minds concerning the source from 
which the commandment came. We all knew it was 
from God, but how to organize was the question. 
We had two High Priests, and one senior President 
of the Seventies, but how could these men organize 
the Church? It was impossible, utterly impossible. 
We counseled upon it, and concluded that possibly, 
under the present circumstances, it might be right 
for High Priests, and for the Senior President of 
Seventies, to ordain Seventies; but when done, what 
would it accomplish ? — nothing, just nothing. We 
were in trouble — deep trouble ! To refuse to organ- 
ize was disobedience ; to go forward in the attempt 
was darkness. There was but one alternative, and 
that was to seek wisdom from above. 

"We sought the Lord, and in answer were told 



596 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

to appoint a day and come together with fasting and 
prayer, and the Lord would show us how to organ- 
ize. We therefore appointed a day, dismissed the 
meeting, and went home rejoicing. 

"Immediately after our meeting we discovered 
that the Prince of Darkness was fully bent on pre- 
venting us from receiving the promised communica- 
tion. 

"We came together on the day appointed, and 
found that some had not fasted as commanded, and 
as several were present who did not belong to the 
Church, it was thought best to omit our prayer meet- 
ing till evening, and spend the day in preaching. 
Before the evening the way was made clear, and at 
night all came together in good faith, rejoicing that 
we had the opportunity of seeking for the informa- 
tion we needed, viz.: how to organize the Church. 

" We then presented the following question : Will 
the Lord please to tell us how to organize, that what 
we do may be done acceptable unto Him, and who 
among us will He acknowledge as the representative 
of the 'legal heir' to the Presidency of the Church? 

" There was not so much of the manifestation 01 
the Spirit at this time as upon former occasions, 
nevertheless a good feeling and influence prevailed. 
After the meeting had continued about one hour, a 
man belonging to the Brighamites, about half drunk, 
came in and took a seat among us. Shortly after 
this a brother (it was H. H. Deam, a High Priest 
ordained in the days of the first Joseph) came to me 
and asked if I had received any answer to our ques- 
tion. I said, ' No.' He said, 'I have.' At my re- 
quest he sat down and wrote it. It read as follows: 

"'Verily thus saith the Lord, as I said unto my servant Mo- 
ses, — See thou do all things according to the pattern, — so I say 
unto you. Behold the pattern is before you. It is my will that 
you respect authority in my Church; therefore, let the greatest 
among you preside at your conference. Let three men be ap- 
pointed by the conference to select seven men from among you. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 597 

who shall compose the majority of the Twelve, for it is my will 
that that quorum should not be filled up at present. Let the 
president of the conference, assisted by two others, ordain them. 
The senior of them shall stand as the representative. Let them 
select twelve men from among you, and ordain them to compose 
my High Council. Behold ye understand the order of the 
Bishopric, the Seventies, the Elders, the Priests, Teachers and 
Deacons. Therefore, organize according to the pattern ; behold 
I will be with you unto the end, even so, Amen.' " 

Not thinking it advisable to bring this revelation' 
before the Church, in consequence of the presence 
of the person from Salt Lake, Elder Gurley folded 
it up and put it into his pocket, resolving that "if 
the revelation was ever brought to the knowledge 
of the Church, it should be done by the power of 
God, and not of man." This was on the 20th of 
March, 1853. 

On the 6th of April, nearly the whole church as- 
sembled in conference at the Yellowstone Branch. 
On the 5th, the Elders called a prayer meeting to 
enquire of the Lord concerning organization, but 
not getting the divine answer, they continued the 
enquiry on the 6th, when they were instructed to 
organize "by what was written" This they sup- 
posed referred to "the books." The next step was 
to organize the Conference, when the question arose, 
"Whose priesthood is the highest?" The subject 
was discussed, and "what was strange to all, a good 
deal of ill-feeling was manifested." 

Read the graphic description of that dark hour 
from Father Gurley's child-like pen : 

" I have often thought of it ! It seemed as though 
each one thought that the salvation of the Church 
depended upon the decision being made according to 
his respective views. So we argued — so we debated, 



598 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

till the close of the second day, when we began to 
think the work was lost. Would to God that all 
Latter-day Saints could know the situation of the 
Church at this time — our feelings — our deep distress 
—our great anxiety. I considered all was lost! lost! 
lost! We could not organize. O, the bitterness Of 
that moment! We could not 'see eye to eye.' God 
had commanded us to do what we absolutely could 
not do. To my mind, and to the mind of others, 
our effort was a failure. Kind reader, when your 
eye falls upon these lines, know that in that time, 
the one who is now penning this, asked God to re- 
move him from the earth. Men who hitherto had 
been united — had seen 'eye to eye' — had labored 
together as one man for the cause of truth, were 
now opposed to each other; and after a discussion 
of two days, learned to their mortification and sor- 
row, that they, to all human appearances, were for- 
ever separated. 

"The Spirit the night before had told a few in 
prayer meeting, that to-morrow ' they shall see eye 
to eye/ But the day closed, and we were farther 
apart than on the former evening. O, the bitterness 
of that moment ; never, never can I forget it. Al- 
though, since that time, darkness like Egyptian night, 
has at times seemed to shut out all light, and exclu- 
ded all hope, yet the recollection of that event has 
enabled me to rest satisfied that He who delivered 
us then still holds the reins in His own hands, and 
will bring His work to a glorious consummation, in 
His own way, and in His own time. 

"The conference adjourned for prayer meeting in 
the evening. We accordingly came together at early 
candle light, and commenced the meeting as is usual 
on such occasions. For a short time it seemed as 
though the 'Prince of Darkness' triumphed. After 
a little, one of the brethren arose and rebuked the 
devil. Shortly after, some sprang to their feet, say- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 599 

v 

ing, 'Angels ! angels, brethren, are near us !' In a 
moment our darkness was turned to light. The 
transition was instantaneous. The glory of God, 
such as I never witnessed before, was manifested. 
The Spirit seemed to rest upon all in the house. 
Three were in vision. The Spirit testified through 
others at the same time that the Recording Angel 
was present. And, as we afterwards learned, two 
of the three who were in vision saw the Roll, while 
the third saw the Angel and the Roll. 

"Just before this manifestation, the brother 
through whom the revelation had come on the 20th 
of March, directing us how to organize, arose to his 
feet and said, 'Brethren, some kind of a Spirit tells 
me that I have the commandment written that we 
need.' He then said, T will read it, and I wish the 
Church to pray, that we may know whether it is 
from God or not.' He then took out and read the 
revelation which was given us on the 20th of March, 
remarking that he was not positive that the 'Senior' 
should preside. It was then submitted to the 
Church. 

" I was not aware until then that any one but 
myself had this revelation. 

"In reply to the enquiry as to whether the revela- 
tion was of God, the Spirit through a number an- 
swered that it was. We were then told that the 
Lord had withheld his Spirit from his Elders, to 
show them that they had not sufficient wisdom in 
and of themselves to organize. He said, ' If I had 
shown you at first, all would have apostatized ; as it 
is many of you will apostatize, but some will remain, 
and they shall be a means in my hands of bringing 
back others. 

" We were then commanded to organize according 
to the revelation given the 20th of March, with the 
assurance that the Lord would be with us to the 
end. The congregation that evening was large. 



6oO LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

The school-house was literally full of Saints, and I 
believe that every one was satisfied that the revela- 
tion was from God, and that the angel that keeps 
the record of the Lord's work in every dispensation 
was in our midst. 

"The next morning the Conference met and pro- 
ceeded to organize as instructed; Jason W. Briggs 
was chosen to preside. On motion, Ethan Griffith, 
William Cline and Cyrus Newkirk, were appointed 
a committee to select seven men to be ordained into 
the quorum of Apostles. On motion, Samuel Blair 
was sustained in the office of general Church Re- 
corder. On motion, Jason W. Briggs was chosen 
Church Historian. The committee of three to select 
seven to be ordained apostles, chose Zenas H. Gur- 
ley ? Henry H. Deam, Jason W. Briggs, Daniel B. 
Razy, John Cunningham, George White and Reu- 
ben Newkirk, who were accordingly ordained. On 
motion, a Stake of Zion was established in the town 
of Argyle, Lafayette County, Wisconsin. On mo- 
tion, William Cline was chosen and ordained Presi- 
dent of the Stake, and Brothers Cyrus Newkirk and 
Isaac Butterfield were chosen and ordained his 
Counselors. On motion, the following persons were 
ordained into the Quorum of Seventies, viz.: David 
Newkirk, William Cline, Jr., William Newkirk, Ira 
Guilford, George Godfrey, William Smith, William 
Hartshorn, Wm. White, Benjamin R. Tatem, Ethan 
Griffith, Samuel Blair, George W. Harlow, Horace 
W. Ovitt, Edwin Wildermuth, Major Godfrey, Wm. 
Griffith, John Butterfield and Wm. Harlow. 

" Conference adjourned to meet at Zarahemla, 
Wisconsin, on the 6th of October, 1853. 

" The next evening after the close of this Confer- 
ence we had a joyful time. The Lord told us the 
acts of this Conference was recorded in heaven, and 
to the seven apostles he said: 

"'I give unto you the care of my flock on earth; take the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 6oi 

oversight of them, as you shall give an account unto me in the 
day of judgment.'" 

As we must go to Father Gurley's record for the 
simple life-pictures of these times, so must we also 
to Elder Jason W. Briggs for the constitutional 
shapings of the Reorganization upon the divine 
statutes, and for - the justification of the methods. 
Thus Elder Briggs reasons as follows upon the 
work now done : 

"And in justification of the course taken, and the 
principles involved on the question of authority, we 
have ever courted, and still court, investigation in 
the rigid character of the facts in the first organiza- 
tion. Here they are : Joseph Smith and Oliver 
Cowdery were ordained to the lesser priesthood by 
an angel ; then bv this authority, and a command- 
ment, they on the 6th day of April, ordained each 
other Elders, and the Eldership ordained High 
Priests and Apostles, and this high priesthood, or- 
dained, by commandment, the president of the high 
priesthood, the highest office in the Church ; so that 
the alleged lesser, ordaining "the greater, is common 
to both the first organization and the Reorganiza- 
tion alike. The same class of facts justify both, or 
condemn both. 

" But this stream rising- higher than its fountain, 
is only seeming, not real. By what authority, accord- 
ing to the law of God, is any one ordained ? Ans- 
wer : By the power of the Holy Ghost, which is in 
the one who ordains him. Instead of this then be- 
ing the stream, it is the fountain itself, from which 
flows the stream or authority of both priesthoods, 
from its highest to its lowest offices. Moreover, all 
ordinations are performed in the name and authority 
of the Church, and is therefore the act of the 'Spirit 
and the Bride.' So that in addition to the authority 



602 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

which its adherence to truth guarantees, the Reor- 
ganization is technically right, and on legal grounds 
invulnerable ; before which all the factions have 
melted away save the one — and they dare not assail 
it, but always decline." 

This is at once excellent constitutional reasoning, 
and sound, healthy theology. With the "Spirit and 
Bride" thus supreme, and qualified for the whole 
work of God, there is but little chance for priest- 
craft in the Church. Priestcraft has been in all ages 
Satan's " living temple," in which the disciples have 
worshiped ; and, strange to say, the first officiators 
at his altar have been Apostles and High Priests — 
men holding legitimate authority. Let justice and 
intellect decide between such a priesthood and these 
simple servants of Christ who wrought out the 
work of the Reorganization by the authority and 
commandment of the Holy Ghost. 

Thus far the historical detail has been followed 
with sufficient closeness and circumstance to give 
the reader graphic views of the rise and progress of 
the Reorganization during the first three years ; but 
its foundation laid and provisional form well wrought 
for the coming of the " Seed" of Joseph in the due 
time of the Lord, the historic action rapidly travels 
to its supreme subject and principal character. That 
between has become now properly but an apostolic 
interval, and the ministerial action and experience 
of the disciples are rather of the class of Church 
episodes than the real historic subject, which is not 
struck again till we find the Church big with the 
promise of Young Joseph's coming. 

In 1859 tne Elders began actively to prepare for 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 603 

the advent of the Prophet, being thus commanded 
by the Spirit. The following apostolic epistle, pub- 
lished in the third number of The Trtte Latter-day 
Saints Herald, gives all the necessary linking, and 
is of rare historic importance : 

" THE GREAT WORK OF THE CONFERENCE. 

" Bro. Sheen: — Since our last- communication we 
have been commanded to write again, again, and 
again, upon the necessity of our immediate obedi- 
ence to the commandment given us nearly seven 
years since, to organize ; that we may be prepared 
for the coming forth of the legitimate heir to the 
Presidency of the Melchisedek Priesthood, and cause 
the same to be published and forwarded to all who 
are with us in faith — calling upon them in the name 
of the Lord Jesus to give heed to, and obey the 
same. 

" Brethren, by reference to the Book of Covenants, 
section ioo, you wijl see that as far back as the year 
1834, the calamity that has since come upon the 
Church was plainly foreseen, and the means by and 
through which our redemption and the redemption 
of our brethren should come is there plainly spoken 
of, and had we understood what was written, none 
of us need to have been in darkness in relation to 
this matter, for the Lord said, 'After much tribula- 
tion and the tribulation of your brethren cometh 
your redemption and the redemption of your breth- 
ren.' He said,' I will raise up unto my people a man, 
who shall lead them like as Moses led the children 
of Israel.' You are aware that at the time this rev- 
elation was given, Bro. Joseph was raised up and 
was the Lord's mouthpiece to the Church, as Moses 
was in his day to the Church in the wilderness. 
Hence, if the Lord did not design to take Joseph 
from the Church that they might go into darkness 



604 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

— that they might learn obedience by the things 
that they should suffer, why did He tell us so 
many years since that this event should happen, and 
show us the means through which our deliverance 
and the deliverance of our brethren will come. 
The Lord foresaw it all, and has virtually told us 
of it, and we knew it not until it pleased Him to 
open our understanding, that we with you might go 
forward and prepare the way for that deliverance 
that was promised us so many years ago. Our duty 
at the next Conference is to organize and set in 
order all the quorums in the Church under the First 
Presidency. With that quorum we have nothing to 
do. God will, in his own time, raise up the 'man 
like unto Moses.' The Church can easily give him 
his counselors, and then the organization will be 
completed. To organize acceptably it will require 
all the faith, talent, and experience amongst us. We 
want twelve of the best men (men of sound minds 
that will not turn either to the right or to the left, 
but will in the fear of God discharge their duty) to 
fill the High Council. In a word, we want the best 
men among us to fill important offices in the priest- 
hood, that from henceforth this work may be under 
the guidance of men of experience, who fear God 
and will work righteousness. This can be done as 
we have proposed in a former letter, viz: by each 
church or branch sending up delegates. It will 
require the presence at Conference of as many of the 
Elders of the Church as can possibly get there; 
hence, thus hath the Lord God of Israel said to us 
by the voice of his Spirit: T command you to call 
upon all the Elders of my Church to assemble 
themselves together at the next April Conference, 
to be held at Amboy, commencing on the Oth of 
April, i860, that you may organize yourselves even 
as I have told you in a former commandment; and 
inasmuch as circumstances prevent, send up your 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 605 

names and places of abode. Delay not the work, 
for my people are crying unto me day and night for 
deliverance ; therefore organize yourselves that 
deliverance may come.' 

"Brethren, will you obey the call? If you say 
yes, then put yourselves in readiness, and if you 
have to preach your way up to Conference, then 
start in time. You know how to travel without purse 
or scrip. You have often done it. You can do it 
again. Are we the blood of Ephraim ? If we are 
let us show our blood by our works. Is there any 
sacrifice too great for us to make for this work? 
'From Ephraim was my fruit found,' saith the Lord, 
by the prophet. Come on, brethren, and you shall 
realize far more than you anticipate. Our time to do 
this work is limited. We knew it not until recently. 
If we fail through neglect, i seven men must perish,' 
saith the Lord our God. We are aware that our 
position and declaration to the Church has caused 
many of the wise men of the Church to smile at our 
supposed folly ; brethren, heed them not. 

m 

'We know that we know, 
For the Spirit of Christ 
Tells his servants they can not be wrong.' 

Their laughter will soon be turned to mourning. 
While they mourn you will rejoice, not in their 
calamity, but in the fulfillment of all the promises 
of God to us. 

"You are aware, brethren, that the rejection of 
the Church produced an effect on the dead as well 
as the living; so will its reorganization. In Book 
of Covenants, section 58, you will read about a feast 
provided for all nations. The first invitation was 
to the learned and noble, &c. That has already 
been. Now comes the day of the Lord's power. 
This is the work that now lies before you. Shall 
we not go forward? As Brother Joseph said, 'On, 
on to victory.' 



606 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" If the Elders as a body will give heed to the 
command to assemble, and by their faith, wisdom 
and patience, help to accomplish the organization 
as commanded, they shall know ere long why the 
figures i860 were seen inscribed upon the heavens, 
several years ago, as testified to by many creditable 
witnesses living in Washington County, Indiana. 
This work, brethren, is of vast importance. Suffer 
us to exhort you to seek the Lord by fasting and 
prayer. Rest not until you receive the Holy Spirit 
which leadeth into all truth, and from this time for- 
ward until you reach the Conference, make it a spe- 
cial subject of prayer that you may know the mind 
and will of God concerning the matter, that you 
may act in faith, nothing doubting ; and ere we close 
we say again to all the Elders of the Church, Come, 
come, come, meet us at Conference, that you may 
take your places in your respective quorums. Fare- 
well. Z. H. Gurley, 

Reuben Newkirk. 

Zarahemla, Feb. 8th, i860." 

The following editorial and report from the Am- 
boy Times will give completement to the first his- 
toric period of the Reorganized Church of Latter 
Day Saints. 

"THE MORMON CONFERENCE. 

"We devote considerable space to the proceed- 
ings of this body, believing that they are of great 
importance to us, even as a nation. There is a great 
body of these poeple scattered through the States, 
who unwilling to follow the fortunes and doctrines 
of Brigham Young, have been quietly waiting for 
the time to come when they could organize under a 
lineal descendant of Joseph Smith, as their prophet. 
That time has at length arrived. Joseph Smith, Jr., 
occupies the position which his father once held. A 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 607 

new era in the history of Mormonism has dawned — 
an era which we hope will greatly improve the name 
of this despised people. 

" Whatever ideas we may entertain in relation to 
the doctrines of the Mormons, we must look with 
approbation and satisfaction upon any movement 
on their part which looks toward a radical reforma- 
tion in their practices as a people. 

"For many years past Brigham Young has been 
looked upon as the embodiment of Mormonism, and 
those professing to be Mormons have been regarded 
as no better than he. Henceforth they, or at least 
one branch of them, are to be judged by a different 
standard. The eyes of the world will now be turned 
upon young Joseph. Hitherto this man has borne 
a good name. His talents are of no mean order; 
and it is earnestly to be hoped that he will use them 
for good and not for a bad purpose. 

"We give a correct report of Mr. Smith's remarks 
previous to his acceptance and ordination by the 
Church. 

"The Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter Day Saints, assembled in this city 
on the 6th inst., at 10 o'clock, a.m. 

" The Conference organized by calling Zenas H. 
Gurley to the chair, and appointed William Marks 
assistant. The forenoon was spent in preaching 
oy Zenas H. Gurley, Samuel Powers and Edmund 
C. Briggs. 

" The sermons were devoted principally to setting 
forth their peculiar doctrines and defining the dif- 
ference between their branch of the Church and 
that represented by Brigham Young. They profess, 
and we believe with the utmost sincerity, to hold in 
utter abhorrence the wicked doctrines and practices 
of Brigham. 

" It is claimed that the great body of the Mormon 
people are scattered through the several States, and 



608 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

that a prophet, by lineage, will call together the 
scattered fragments and unite them into a grand 
whole. 

" According to adjournment the Conference 
assembled at i : 30 o'clock, p. m. 

" Horace Bartlett, Frederick Squires and Joseph 
Robinson, signified their desires and united with 
the organization on their original baptism. 

"Joseph Smith, Jr., then came forward, when 
Mr.Gurley said, 'I present to *you, my brethren 
Joseph Smith.* 

" Mr. Smith then spoke as follows: — 

"'I would say to you, brethren, (as I hope you 
may be, and in faith I trust you are), as a people 
that God has promised his blessings upon, I came 
not here of myself, but by the influence of the Spirit. 
For some time past I have received manifestations 
pointing to the position I am about to assume. 

" ' I wish to say that I have come here not to be 
dictated by any men, or set of men. I have come 
in obedience to a power not my own, and shall be 
dictated by the power that sent me. 

"'God works by means best known to himself, 
and I feel that for some time past He has been 
pointing out a work for me to do. For two or three 
years past deputations have been waiting upon me, 
urging me to assume the responsibilities of the lead- 
ership of the Church, but I have answered each and 
every one of them' that I did not wish to trifle with 
the faith of the people. 

" ' I do not propose to assume this position in order 
to amass wealth out of it ; neither have I sought it 
as a profit. I know opinions are various in relation 
to these matters. I have conversed with those who 
told me they would not hesitate one moment in as- 
suming the high and powerful position as the leader 
of this people. But I have been well aware of the 
motives which might be ascribed to me — motives 



LIFE* OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 609 

of various kinds, at the foundation of all of which 
is selfishness, should I come forth to stand in the 
place where my father stood. 

"'I have believed that should I come without 
the guarantee of the people, I should be received in 
blindness, and would be liable to be accused of false 
motives. Neither would I come to you without 
receiving favor from my Heavenly Father. I have 
endeavored as far as possible, to keep myself unbi- 
ased. I never conversed with J. J. Strang, for in 
those days I was but a boy, and in fact am now but 
a boy. I had not acquired a sufficient knowledge 
of men to be capable of leading myself, setting aside 
the leading of others. 

" There is but one principle taught by the leaders 
of any faction of this people that I hold in utter 
abhorrence. That is a principle taught by Brigham 
Young and those believing in him. I have been 
told that my father taught such doctrines. I have 
never believed it, and never can believe it. If such 
things were done, then I believe they never were 
done by Divine authority. I believe my father was 
a good man, and a good man never could have pro- 
mulgated such doctrines. 

"' I believe in the doctrines of honesty and truth. 
The Bible contains such doctrines, and so does the 
Book of Mormon and the Book of Covenants, 
which are auxiliaries to the Bible. 

"T have my peculiar notions in regard to revela- 
tions, but am happy to say that they accord with 
those I am to associate with, at least with those of 
them with whom I have conversed. I am not very 
conversant with those books, (pointing to a volume 
before him), not so conversant as I should be and 
will be. The time has been when the thought that 
I should assume the leadership of this people, was 
so repulsive to me, that it seemed as if the thing 
could never be possible. 

39 



6lO LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PRORHET. 

"'The change in my feelings came slowly, and I 
did not suffer myself to be influenced by extraneous 
circumstances, and have never read the numerous 
works sent me which had a bearing on this subject, 
for fear they might entice me into wrong doing. It 
is my determination to do right, and let Heaven 
take care of the result. Thus I come to you free 
from every taint of sectarianism, taints from thoughts 
of the varied minds I have come in contact with ; 
and thus hope to be able to build up my own repu- 
tation as a man. 

"'It has been said that a Mormon Elder, though 
but a stripling, possessed a power unequalled by 
almost any other preacher. This arises from a depth 
of feeling, and the earnestness with which they be- 
lieve the doctrines they teach ; and it is this feeling 
that I do not wish to trifle with. 

"'I know that Brigham Young is considered a 
man of talent, by some a bold and fortunate man, 
and by others an unscrupulous and bad man, accord- 
ingly as circumstances differ. 

"' Should you take me as a leader, I propose that 
all should be dealt by in mercy, open as to Gentile 
or Jew; but I ask not to be received except as by 
the ordinances of the Church. Some, who ought 
to know the proprieties of the Church, have told 
me that no certain form was necessary in order for 
me to assume the leadership, that the position came 
by right of lineage, yet I know that if I attempted 
to lead as a prophet by these considerations, and 
not by a call from Heaven, men would not be led to 
believe who do not believe now. And so I have 
come not of my own dictation to this sacred office. 

"'I believe that we owe duties to our country 
and to society, and are amenable to the laws of the 
land, and have always considered it my duty to act 
upon this principle; and I do say that among the 
people where I live I have as many good and true 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 6ll 

friends as I could desire among those of any society. 
The people of Hancock County have been strongly 
anti-Mormon, yet there I know of no enemies. I 
have been engaged in business with anti-Mormons, 
I have mingled with them, and have not only been 
obliged not to make any remarks which might give 
offense, but also to smother my own feelings, if I had 
any. I hold not enmity to any man living who has 
fought this doctrine, nor do I know any who hold 
enmity towards me. I hope there are none. 

'"In conclusion, I will come to you if you will 
receive me, give my ability, and the influence my 
name may bring, together with what little power I 
possess, and I trust by your prayers and faith to be 
sustained. I pledge myself to promulgate no doc- 
trine that shall not be approved by you, or the code 
of good morals. I have my short comings, but I 
trust as a leader I shall do nothing to lead astray. 
If I do so, I shall expect condemnation, for I am 
satisfied that this people, governed by the same 
policy, would serve me worse than they have Brig- 
ham Young before,* for I would be wholly deserted. 
A gentleman from Utah informs me that a majority 
of Brigham Young's people were restive — not satis- 
fied with their condition — but dared say nothing; 
that those who preached and those who practiced 
his teachings were, in reality, the old fogies of the 
institution, the younger taking a different view of 
matters. I do not care to say any more at present, 
but will simply add, that if the same Spirit which 
prompts my coming, prompts also my reception, I 
am with you.' 

"When Mr. Smith concluded, it was moved that 
he be received as a Prophet — the successor of his 
father, which was carried by a unanimous vote. 

" Mr. Gurley then said: — 'Brother Joseph, I pre- 
sent this Church to you in the name of Jesus Christ.' 

■ To which Mr. Smith responded as follows : — 



6l2 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

'May God grant in his infinite mercy that I may 
never do anything to forfeit the high trust confided 
to me. I pray that he may grant us power to recall 
the scattered ones of Israel, and I ask your prayers/ 
" Isaac Sheen then led in prayer. Then followed 
the ordination of Joseph Smith as President of the 
High Priesthood. The ceremonies were earnest 
and impressive, and and when they were completed, 
almost the entire congregation were in tears. Emma 
Bidamon, mother of Joseph, was then proposed, 
and united with the Church." 

Here culminates the interest of the General Con- 
ference in April, i860, and also of the first historic 
period of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ 
of Latter Day Saints ; but as a touching incident, 
the following from the Saints Herald of that date 
will give a rare tone of pathos in the close of this 
chapter. 

The Editor wrote : 

" On the evening before the commencement of 
the late Conference, a prayer meeting was held at 
the house of Bro. Stephen J. Stone, in the vicinity 
of Amboy. After the meeting had commenced and 
the Spirit had rested copiously upon the Saints, 
Brother Joseph and his mother came into the meet- 
ing. They were welcomed by the Saints assembled 
rising to their feet. That event was exceedingly 
solemn and impressive. Nearly all that were there 
shed tears of joy. The gifts of the Spirit were 
poured out on that occasion in an eminent degree. 
The gifts of prophecy, tongues and interpretation 
of tongues were given to many in mighty power, 
witnessing the reality of Joseph's calling as a pro- 
phet of the Lord, and the great work which the 
Lord will perform through him. The Saints gen- 



LIFE OF TOSEPH THE PROPHET. 6l^ 



J 



erally, and perhaps we may say universally, received 
the witness of the Holy Spirit that Joseph was 
chosen of God to be the successor of his father. 

"Joseph delivered a short address, in which he 
stated that he would meet with them in the Confer- 
ence in the morning, and that if the Spirit which 
prompted him in coming there, prompted his recep- 
tion, he should be with them." 

Thus had the promise been fulfilled. The Lord 
had brought the "Seed" of Joseph to be a Shep- 
herd of Israel, to call back the lost sheep and to 
lead them again in the excellent ways of Zion. And 
thus also have we seen that when the enemy came 
in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifted up a 
standard against him. 



CHAPTER L. 

brigham's early opinion of young Joseph's claims 

joseph to come to him church rejected 

counter rejection by o. hyde his testi- 
mony of b. young's call to presidency 

the author's testimony elder woodruff^ 

journal orson pratts statement brigham 

chosen by a council at winter quarters 

o. hyde's statement found untrue — wood- 
ruff's OPPOSITION TO BRIGHAM'S AMBITION 

VINDICATION OF THE HISTORIAN. 

Brigham Young in his secret soul felt the shock 
of irresistible right of presiding priesthood inherent 
in young Joseph. 

In the earlier discourses of the President of the 
Twelve there are many evidences, well marked, to 
justify the conclusion that had young Joseph come 
up to him to claim his father's office, he, Brigham, 
would have given him that office; thenceforth he 
would have stood to the son as he had done to his 
father — as President of the Twelve. 

Thus in fact has President Young positively 
declared his intention in the most circumstantial 
words ; and it is fairly due to him in history to give 
the record of that intention without invalidating its 
integrity and truth. 

But there was in Brigham Young's mind attached 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 615 

an absolute and irrevocable condition, which was 
that " Joseph's seed" should come to himself as the 
Chief Apostle holding the keys of the kingdom. 
From his hands Joseph II. was to receive his anoint- 
ing, his ordination, his office. The Prophet in his 
son must acknowledge on earth what the chief 
apostle Brigham had done. With this condition 
obeyed, he, Brigham, would faithfully keep his word 
and deliver up the "keys" unto Joseph to receive 
them from him back to rule the Church as long as 
he lived, in Joseph's name. 

There was a show of justice in all this, — certainly 
a great deal of worldly common sense, looking from 
one side of the view. But God had not so ordained. 
Brigham did not keep his word, because he was not 
permitted. It fell to the ground, simply because 
there was a conflict between Jehovah's intentions 
and Brigham's intentions. The proofs are in the 
facts. They need tiot rest upon the arguments. 

The prophecies and foreshadowings of Brigham 
and the Twelve had failed in their expectation of 
young Joseph coming to them to receive his office 
with approbations of their work and superadded 
institution of polygamy. He came, indeed, rather 
proclaiming God's disapproval of their works: his 
•very coming was as a final pronouncement that 
they were " rejected as a church? 

This remarkable event in the history of the Lat- 
ter-day Church called forth from Orson Hyde a sort 
of counter rejection of "young Joseph," seemingly 
in the name of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles 
of the " mother church," as she may be called for 
distinction. The discourse of Elder Hyde, who was 



6l6 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

now President of the Twelve in Utah, was delivered 
at the conference in Salt Lake City, October ;th, 
i860 being the first General Conference after 
Joseph had taken his place at the head of the 
Reorganized Church. Elder Hyde said : 

" First and foremost, I will briefly allude to some 
aspirants to office and honors in -the Church of 
which we are members. There have been aspirants 
to the Presidency of this Church ever since the 
death of Joseph Smith. It may be regarded as lost 
time to allude to these things at all, by which any 
portion of the day is consumed. But, brethren, 
bear with me. I have read the writing of every 
aspirant to the presiding priesthood in this Church 
since the days of Joseph. I have marked their cold, 
dry, technical, husky, and spiritless reasonings from 
the Book of Mormon, from the Doctrine and Cov- 
enants, Bible, etc., resembling the bile ejected from 
the stomach. I have never discovered one burst of 
the. Spirit of God in all their claims or publications. 
Who has ever read Brigham Young's writing in 
which he has labored to establish his right and 
claim to the Presidency of the Church? No one. 
God pleads his own cause through Brigham, because 
he obeys him; but man has to plead the cause of 
man, who is sordid, illiberal, murmuring and corrupt. 

"In the month of February, 1848, the Twelve 
Apostles met at Hyde Park, Pottawattamie County, 
Iowa, where a small branch of the Church was estab- 
lished, and I must say that I feel not a little proud 
of the circumstance, and also very thankful, on ac- 
count of its happening in my own little retired and 
sequestered hamlet, bearing my own name. We 
were in prayer and council, communing together; 
and what took place on that occasion? 

" The voice of God came from on high, and spoke 
to the council. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 617 

" Every latent feeling was aroused, and every 
heart melted. What did it say unto us ? — 

" ' Let my servant Brigham step forth and receive 
the full power of the Presiding Priesthood in my 
Church and Kingdom.' 

"This was the voice of the Almighty unto us at 
Council Bluffs before I moved to what was called 
Kanesville. 

" It has been said by some that Brigham was ap- 
pointed by the people, and not by the voice of God. 
I do not know that this testimony has often been 
given to the masses of the people before, but I am 
one that was present, and there are others that were 
also present on that occasion, and did hear and feel 
the. voice from heaven, and we were filled with the 
power of God. This is my testimony. These are 
my declarations unto the Saints — unto the members 
of the Kingdom of God in the last days, and to all 
people. We said nothing about the matter in those 
times, but kept it still. Men, women and children, 
came running where we were, and asked what was 
the matter. They said their houses shook and the 
ground trembled, and they did not know but there 
was an earthquake. We told them there was noth- 
ing the matter, not to be alarmed ; the Lord was 
only whispering to us a little, and that he was pro- 
bably not far off, We felt no shaking of the earth, 
or of the house, but were filled with the exceeding 
power and goodness of God. We knew and realized 
that we had the testimony of God within us. 

" On the 6th day of April following, at our Annual 
Conference, held in the Log Tabernacle at Kanes- 
ville, the propriety of choosing a man to preside 
over the Church Was investigated. In a very few 
minutes it was agreed to, and Brigham was chosen 
to fill that place without a dissenting voice, the peo- 
ple not knowing that there had been any revelation 
touching the matter. They ignorantly seconded the 



6l8 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

voice from on high in his appointment. Yes, the 
voice of God was the voice of the people. Brigham 
went right ahead silently, to do the work of the 
Lord, and to feed his sheep, and to take care of them 
like a faithful shepherd, leaving all vain aspirants 
to growl and contend about lineal descent, right, 
power and authority." 

Here the author, for the first time, must come 
personally into his history as a witness to testify in 
this grave affair; for the testament thus made by 
Apostle Orson Hyde is too solemn a matter to be 
passed over with indifference as to whether it was 
true or false. Nineteen years have come and gone 
since its utterance, yet no other apostle's voice to 
this day has dared, in public, to confirm or deny 
what the president of their quorum proclaimed in 
their name to the "Saints of God in the last days 
and to all people? It is the historian's duty now to 
speak and declare the truth. 

Before leaving England, and while filling the office 
of managing Editor of the Latter Day Saints Mil- 
lennial Star, I resolved to write and publish the 
history of the Prophet Joseph. Hence as soon as I 
arrived in Salt Lake City, in 1861, I sought labor 
on the personal journals of Wilford Woodruff and 
George A. Smith, boldly and frankly telling these 
two official historians that I should write and pub- 
lish the history of the Church, for the Lord had 
called me to this work. For this I needed their 
private journals and professional employment on 
Wilford Woodruff's history. Wilford gave me em- 
ployment and trusted me with the wonderful journals 
of his own ministry and the Latter-day Work. For 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 619 

eighteen months I daily labored on those journals, 
transforming them into a regular " Autobiography 
of Wilford Woodruff." I had come to the close of 
the year 1847, recording the very minutes of the 
Quorum of the Twelve, of those identical Grand 
Councils in which the choosing of the First Pres- 
idency was broached, and in which the Twelve did 
actually, by all the forms of motion and vote, set up 
the First Presidency, in the persons of Brigham 
Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Willard Richards. 

I knew Wilford would speak the truth. A lie is 
not in the man's nature. I knew he would tell me 
the truth if interrogated on the witness of his 
journals, however much he might desire to cover, 
the solemn falsehood of the president of his quorum. 

We were together. I was reading from his 
Autobiography. Apostle Woodruff was, with his 
journal in hand, checking my transcript Suddenly 
I stopped, and with impetuous indignation said : 

"Wilford, I always believed Orson Hyde bore a 
false testimony, and now I know he did ! " 

So sudden was the outburst that it was followed 
with speechless wonderment from historian Wood- 
ruff, rather than quick reproof. In an instant he 
comprehended the whole case. There, resting on 
my knees, with my hand in wrath smiting its pages, 
was the witness that could not lie — Wilford Wood- 
ruffs history. I continued to pour out indignant 
speech : 

" Here, in your journals, sir, is the detailed record 
of those times. This is the very Council of the 
Twelve in which President Young and his Counselors 
were elected by your quorum. Orson Hyde bore 



620 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

false witness in the name of the Lord. The voice 
of God was not heard in any of these councils, say- 
ing, 'Let my servant Brigham step forth and receive 
the full power of the Presiding Priesthood of my 
Church and kingdom.' Men, women and children, 
did not come running to the house where you were 
holding council, saying their houses shook and the 
ground trembled. Neither did you apostles tell the 
people not to be alarmed ; 'the Lord was only 
whispering to us a little, and that probably he was 
not far off.' There is nothing of all this in Wilford 
Woodruff's journals, not a word, not a trace any- 
where, for I have carefully examined. You know, 
Wilford, it is impossible that this should have 
occurred in your presence and not to be found in 
your journals. It is a solemn falsehood in the name 
of the Lord. There is the proof, Wilford — your 
journals!" 

" Edward," he answered, with a deep blush on his 
honest face, " it was not true!" 

These were his first words. He had not blushed 
for himself; no need that Wilford Woodruff do 
this: his shame was for others, and doubtless from a 
realizing sense that his quorum had to bear the lie 
of their president in silence. 

In my secret thoughts at that moment I exclaimed, 
" Thank God ! Wilford has borne the test. He has 
redeemed his apostolic honor. And now for Orson 
Pratt. I think Orson will be also true. We shall 
see. 

It was in the Liverpool Office, in 1 860-61, while 
preparing these Tabernacle Sermons for the Journal 
of Discourses, and reading their proofs, that I had 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 62 1 

determined to sound this testimony of Orson Hyde 
to the bottom. I had labored in that office in 
1856-7 under Orson Pratt, so he was originally the 
one selected from whom to obtain the initial 
evidence; but my subsequent labors on church 
history had improved the design in making Wilford 
Woodruff and his journals the sure basis of testi- 
mony. 

Orson Pratt was at the bar. He knew not, how- 
ever, it meant as much. I was boarding with him 
in Williamsburg, at the house of old sister Lloyd. 
He had just returned from a mission to Europe; I 
had been two years in New York, writing for the 
Galaxy and other magazines, on Mormonism and 
numerous historical subjects. This was in 1868. 

One evening in conversation I cautiously ap- 
proached this testimony of Orson Hyde. Brother 
Pratt, though a very exact apostle in God's affairs, 
is Jesuitically suspicious and jealous of his order ; so 
I approached him with method. I first mentioned 
to him a rumor out west, that President Young 
had ordained his three eldest sons, designing Brig- 
ham, Jun., to succeed him at his death. 

"I guess," replied Orson, with exceeding quietude, 
"the Twelve will choose their own president at the 
death of President Youn^." 

I perceived that already had the Twelve resolved 
to overthrow Brigham's dynasty ; but that was not 
my business of the moment ; yet, of course, thus pre- 
pared, the subject led easily to Winter Quarters 
and the re-organization of the First Presidency. At 
last came my direct questions: 

"Brother Pratt, did the voice of God come from 



622 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

heaven and speak to your Council, as testified by- 
Orson Hyde? Was the Lord himself present? 
Did the voice of the Almighty declare to your 
brethren in council — ' Let my servant, Brigham, step 
forth and take the Presidency of the Church?' or 
in language to that effect ? You were present, 
Orson, in all those councils: Did the Lord himself 
speak to you ?" 

11 If he did, I did not hear him!" 

These are Orson Pratt's exact words. It was a 
bare reply. I appreciated the delicacy of the case 
between us. I had venerated Orson Pratt from my 
boyhood, esteeming him in those days as my intel- 
lectual tutor. I had labored under him as an 
assistant editor; I did not wish to humble these apos- 
tles, much less Orson Pratt. It was enough. I was 
relieved of an anxiety for his sake ; for it was not in 
the power of these apostles to escape the judgment 
of history. Orson's testimony was not needed, 
excepting for his own honor. 

Review, for example, the record itself. Here is a 
page from the ''Life of Brigham Young," summarized 
from Wilford Woodruff's Journals, and passed 
upon as authentic by Brigham Young himself. 

"The Pioneers returned to Winter Quarters, 
October 31st, 1847. During the month of Novem- 
ber, much important business came before the 
Twelve ; and on the last of the month, the subject 
of reorganizing the First Presidency, which had 
been vacant since the martyrdom of Joseph and 
Hyrum Smith, was considered. 

" On the 3rd of December a conference was held 
on the east side of the river; but after having 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 623 

resolved to build immediately a large tabernacle 
for the congregation, it adjourned for three weeks. 

"There was a feast and a grand council, Decem- 
ber 5th, at the house of Elder Hyde, who had 
been in charge at Winter Quarters during the 
absence of the Pioneers. 

"In this council of the Twelve Apostles, their 
President (Brigham Young) first expressed his 
views concerning the Reorganization of the quorum 
of the First Presidency, and wished those present 
to do the same in their order, when Heber C. 
Kimball, Orson -Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, Willard 
Richards, George A. Smith, Arnasa Lyman and 
Ezra T. Benson spoke to the question. President 
Young closed. 

"Orson Hyde then moved that Brigham Young 
be President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- 
day Saints, and that he nominate his two Counselors 
to form the First Presidency. Wilford Woodruff 
seconded the motion, and it was carried unanimously. 

" President Young then nominated Heber C. 
Kimball as his Frst 'Counselor, and Willard Rich- 
ards as his Second Counselor, which was seconded 
and carried unanimouslv. 

"The Twelve again met the next day, and appoint- 
ed Father John Smith presiding patriarch of the 
whole Church. 

" The conference re-assembled on the 24th of 
December, and lasted four days. In the Log 
Tabernacle one thousand persons assembled, and 
chose Brigham Young 'President of the Church of 
Jesus Christ in all the world.'" 

Compare now this literal record of facts relative 
to the " call " and election of the First Presidency 
at Winter Quarters, with that blasphemous piece 
of fiction of Orson Hvde, given in his character of 
President of the Twelve Apostles. In doing this 



624 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

remember it is the very testament of said Twelve 
'* unto the members of the kingdom of God in the 
last days, and to all people." Let the judgment of 
the Saints, "who shall judge angels," be given to 
this Twelve upon their solemn testimony of the 
voice of God speaking from on high, saying to them, 
" Let my servant Brigham step forth and receive 
the full power of the Presiding Priesthood in my 
Church and kingdom." Compare dates also, and 
observe that all the discussion of the business of 
reorganizing the First Presidency occupied the 
attention of the Twelve during the entire month of 
November, 1847. Notice next a" grand feast" for 
a "grand council " made at the house of Elder Hyde, 
December 5th, 1847; in the occasion of which "grand 
feast " there will readily be seen nice management of 
somebody ; and reflect that the Lord never descends 
to such management when he is about to speak 
from on high to call "my servant" to the presiding 
priesthood, or to the leadership of his Israel. He 
meets Moses in the "burning bush;" Joshua alone 
in some holy place where even an archangel's feet 
must come with naked simplicity; a child Prophet 
in the lone watches of the night calling, "Samuel! 
Samuel!" and a Joseph in the latter days alone in 
the woods — a simple boy praying for divine guidance. 
Verily, those apostles have some cause for gratitude 
that this testimony of their President was but an 
impious fiction; else had their souls been perilled to 
that dread Beino- whom Hyde said shook houses 
and made an earthquake in seeming. Finally, 
notice that it was in this "grand council" of the 
Twelve, celebrated by a " grand feast," that the First 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 625 

Presidency was elected by all the due forms of 
motion and vote after the members of the quorum 
had spoken in order, and that Orson Hyde himself 
was the one that " moved that Brigham Young be 
President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- 
day Saints, and that he nominate his two counselors 
to form the First Presidency." This was the only 
" voice of the Almighty speaking unto us, saying, 
' Let my servant Brigham step forth and receive 
the full power of the Presiding Priesthood in my 
Church and kingdom.'" The date is December 5th, 
1847, when the First Presidency was elected in fact 
by the Apostles in their quorum meeting; that 
which took place on the 24th of December in a 
special conference, was merely form; while Orson 
Hyde's testimony is that the Lord by his own voice 
called " my servant Brigham " to the Presidency of 
the Church in the month of February, 1848, which 
was about two months after he was chosen by a 
" thousand persons assembled " in special conference 
in the " Log Tabernacle," and nearly three months 
after he had been elected to the office by the 
Twelve, on Orson Hyde's motion. 

Review the facts still further. In a letter from 
" President Brigham Young," addressed from Winter 
Quarters, January 23d, 1848, to Orson Spencer, 
President of the British Mission, the "President" 
said: 

" In December last we appointed a day to hold a 
conference on the other side of the river. * * * 
We adjourned for three weeks to build a house 
capable of holding the Saints. Accordingly on the 
24th we convened again at the Log Tabernacle. 

40 



626 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

* * * At this conference we suggested to the 
brethren the propriety of organizing the Church 
with a First Presidency and a Patriarch, as hinted at 
in our General Epistle, and the expediency of such a 
move at this time was so clearly seen by the breth- 
ren, that they hailed it as an action which the state 
of the work at present demanded, and as a means 
to liberate the hands of the quorum of the Twelve. 

* * * Accordingly, Brigham Young was nomin- 
ated to be the First President of the Church, and 
he nominated Heber C. Kimball and Willard 
Richards to be his two counselors, which nomina- 
tions were seconded and carried without a dissent- 
ing voice. * ■* . * Nothing more has been done 
to-day than what I knew would be done when 
Joseph died!" — (See Millennial Star, volume 10, p. 114, 115.) 

The " General Epistle from the Council of the 
Twelve Apostles " referred to in the above, and 
which bore the signatures of Brigham Young as 
president, and Willard Richards as clerk, is dated 
December, 1847; an< ^ in ^ * s announced that the 
Twelve had in " contemplation soon to reorganize 
the Church according to the original pattern, with a 
First Presidency and Patriarch." In fact, as the 
minutes of their quorum shows, the Twelve had 
already done this, though their action had not yet 
been confirmed in the Special Conference called for 
that purpose. So it appears from the records that 
the Church throughout the world was notified in a 
General Epistle of this intention to organize, two 
months before the voice of the Lord commanded it 
according to Orson Hyde's testimony ! 

Truth is ever guarded by her own simplicity and 
righteousness; but about a lie, especially a lie in the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 627 

name of the Lord, there is a hideous fatality. 
Though a thousand persons labor to cover the lie 
with their cunnino-, it shall be left uncovered in a 
thousand places ; and yet it almost provokes the 
admiration, as well as the astonishment, that this 
testimony of Orson Hyde's should have been 
allowed to be published in the Deseret News to be 
republished in the Journal of Discourses, falsifying 
all the dates of well-known facts. 

But the investigation must not rest even here. 
For twenty years the historian has waited patiently 
to give to the Saints and "all people" the faithful 
testimony of history upon this matter. The whole 
truth must now be revealed so far as historical facts 
are concerned. With the secret motives of the 
chief persons, and the mainspring of their purposes 
and action, the author has nothing properly to do ; 
he is not the judge of men's souls ; God forbid! 

To Wilford Woodruffs journals again. Turn, 
Brother Wilford, to the record of the journey of the 
Pioneers from Salt Lake City back to Winter 
Quarters. One day, yourself and Brigham Young 
were walking together, lone companions, as you 
often were in those journeys; for, however much 
Brigham Young may have used plotting, ambitious 
men, he always preferred the companionship of 
honest men, and trusted them most from his great 
knowledge of human nature. So on this day he 
was about to trust you with the supreme purpose of 
Brigham Young's heart. And you were to be the 
first man in all the world to be honored with his 
confidence. Not even was Heber C. Kimball to 
learn that supreme purpose as soon as Wilford 



628 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Woodruff. He was about to tell you, substantially, 
that Brigham Young intended to make himself 
President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- 
day Saints ; circumstantially he did plainly tell you 
of his purpose to reorganize the quorum of the First 
Presidency; and he asked for your judgment and 
counsel. I need not tell you, Brother Wilford, 
what your judgment was upon this matter, nor your 
reasoning and views in the case, but as you and I 
are, perhaps, the only two men in the world who 
know, to this day, that Wilford Woodruff at first 
opposed the reorganization of the First Presidency, 
and in his plain, honest truthfulness gave President 
Young his judgment that it would be usurpation in 
the Twelve to do it, we will make the fact known 
now, and let the knowledge thereof go to the Lat- 
ter-day Saints in all the world. 

I have not, in this historical exposition, been 
attempting to show that Brigham Young was not 
the proper leader of the Utah Church, much less to 
affect a disbelief in him as a "man of manifest des- 
tiny." I accept as a divine fact that Providence led, 
or drove, ('tis the same in its historical aspect), the 
Mormon Israel to the Rocky Mountains for some 
great purpose, partly revealed already, more abun- 
dantly to be revealed by and by. There was 
"manifest destiny" in Brigham Young's leading this 
polygamic branch of Israel to the mountain refuge, 
and in his remaining their leader and head to the 
close of his mortal life. To the historian the fact 
must ever be the proof. Yet was he but the Presi- 
dent of the Twelve Apostles. What he was above 
that he made himself. He took the Melchisedek 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 629 

crown, like as Napoleon took the iron crown of the 
Caesars, and placed it upon his own head with his 
own hands, pronouncing in supreme exultation — 
" God has given it to me!" 

My object in this historical chapter has been 
simply to write that which must be written in 
making the faithful testament of God's work in the 
last days. This may not be done in one book, nor 
by one man, but what is done must be faithful, and 
in the name and fear of the Lord God of Israel. If 
any dare to say I have betrayed the records in pub- 
lishing a mere fragment of my knowledge of them, 
let such mark how much I, with design, have guarded 
these apostles by getting from them years ago their 
true testimony, and doing for them what they could 
not do themselves after their long silence. Already, 
in fact, I had published the true record from Wood- 
ruff's journals in the "Life of Brigham Young." I 
was writing his justification, though I did not 
emphasize as much in that book, but left it silent, 
yet Wilford recorded in his honest truth versus 
Orson Hyde. Guarded them! Do they not know 
that in my hands have been the journals of Wood- 
ruff, George A. Smith, Brigham Young, Heber C. 
Kimball, William Clayton, and others? I have 
been a better guard to my brethren than they have 
been to themselves, and ever shall be. Only in 
righteousness will my knowledge be used in the 
history of the Latter-day Church. 

History can bide her time; indeed she must do 
this, for hers is the final judgment on human affairs, 
made as a rule after many efforts of the historians 
to search the truth to the bottom, and to give that 



6^0 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

judgment. It is never in malice, but in the interest 
of humanity ; never for personal condemnations, 
but for the justifications of truth. History is not 
as a prosecuting attorney. There is no human 
authority sufficient to command her to speak or bid 
her to hold her peace ; for there is in her mission 
divine exactitude. If it be in human affairs, her 
judgment is sure in due time; if in God's affairs, 
then shall even apostles stand at the bar for judg- 
ment here, lest God's testimonies be put to shame 
in the presence of man. Her revealments shall 
ever be in the due times of the Lord ; but those 
due times are sure to come; the genius of history 
is always on the watch. 



CHAPTER LI. 

THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY NEWS FROM ENGLAND 

SPREAD OF THE WORK CHOOSING OF OTHER 

TWELVE FIRST MISSION TO ENGLAND FIRST 

EPISTLE GENERAL OF THE TWELVE APPENDIX 

BAPTISM OF DAVID H. SMITH LETTER FROM 

JOHN E. PAGE UNION OF THE CUTLERITES 

THE GATHERING DECLARATION OF LOYALTY 

MISSION TO UTAH PROGRESS IN ENGLAND 

CANADA FIRST CONFERENCE IN CALIFORNIA 

PROSPERITY NEW TRANSLATION. 

As it will be impossible in this supplementary 
volume to give the' detailed record of the Reorgan- 
ized Church during a period of twenty years from 
the date of the coming of Joseph II., embodying 
also the soul of the subject wrought out in the 
mission and action of the Reorganized Church, 
there shall be given a summary of each following 
decade, linking events and the work of its ministry 
in all parts of the world. 



The first historical mark in the SaintJ Herald 
after the Amboy Conference is relative to the Lat- 
ter-day Saints in England, in the form of a letter 
from one of the thousands who had either left the 
old Church, or been "cut off." The writer, however, 



632 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

saw some promise to Israel in the advent of 
''Young Joseph," and hastened to address the 
Editor of the Herald. He wrote: 

" As to the Latter-day Saints in England," some 
of "the very best men and women they had have 
left the Church and thousands are scattered all over 
the country, disgusted with the conduct of men who 
professed to be shepherds, but invariably were 
ravenous wolves, scattering and destroying the flock. 
The greediness for money knew no bounds. The 
doctrine of polygamy has made thousands ashamed 
to confess they had belonged to them, and those 
who have wisely withdrawn may be divided into 
three classes: First, those who would gather again. 
The second would be more diffident, and look on 
a long while, shaping their conduct according to the 
success or non-success of the New Organization. 
The third are those who are so keenly stung at 
having been deceived by the Brighamites, that they 
would never join any so long as they live. * * * 
As a general thing, of all those who were Saints, 
very few of the scattered ones have joined any 
other party ; for no other party preached so much 
scriptural truth as they did ; . * * * yet we feel 
assured, if the Lord has indeed bid you gather his 
people, it will be done and go on prosperously and 
not be frustrated." 

From a letter from Apostles Wm. W. Blair and 
James Blakeslee, dated Sandwich, Illinois, June 4th, 
i860, we read of a two days' meeting at that place 
held by the Elders. 

" The gifts of prophecy and tongues were enjoyed 
by a number, and the Saints were highly edified, 
•x- * * The house being- far too small to accom- 
modate the people, the meeting adjourned to Bishop 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 633 

Rogers' barn. * * * At the close of services 
we repaired to the river, where baptism was admin- 
istered to three by Elder Blair.- Next day four more 
were baptized by Elder Blakeslee. * * * Nearly 
or quite one hundred of the Church were present, 
most, if not all of whom have returned home with a 
renewed determination to love God and keep his 
commandments; and we have good reason to hope 
that our brethren and sisters, who for the past 
number of years have mourned and wept over the 
desolations of Zion — -who have suffered a reproach 
because of evil doers will awake to the righteousness 
of God as revealed in the gospel — will take up the 
song of thanksgiving and praise, — will erect again 
and forever the precious altar of prayer, offering 
their oblations to the Most High." 



Thus it will be seen that the Reorganization was 
at that time like the Church in 1830, comparable to 
the grain of mustard seed. 

A Special Conference was held at Council Bluffs, 
commencing June 1st, i860, under Elders Jason W. 
Briggs, William Marks, and Zenas H. Gurley. The 
reports and action of this conference showed that 
the Reorganization was fast getting a foothold in 
the land. On motion the conference adjourned to 
meet at Sandwich, DeKalb county, Illinois, October 
6th, i860. 

The General Conference of the Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter-day Saints was, according to the 
above appointment, held near Sandwich, lasting 
from the 6th to the 9th of October. The conference 
was organized by electing Joseph Smith president, 
and Isaac Sheen and W. W. Blair clerks. This 
was the first conference of the Church over which 



634 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Joseph presided. Elder Edmund C. Briggs, report- 
ing his labors in Iowa, said: 

" The people feel interested, and desire preaching. 
Every time a Salt Lake Elder undertakes to preach 
there, his preaching only forwards this work. Many 
are returning from Utah. The work is prosperous, 
and the prospects bright and promising. A very 
large proportion of the people in Western Iowa are 
old Saints, and are mostly favorable to the cause." 

Elder Sheen, Editor of the Herald, reported that 
he was almost daily receiving letters from the 
different States, Utah, Canada, and Europe, ex- 
pressing friendship for the New Organization. Pres- 
ident Joseph Smith said that it was necessary that 
the quorum of Twelve should be filled up as far as 
practicable, and that as many of the elders as were 
found worthy, qualified and properly situated, should 
be ordained to the quorum of Seventies. On motion 
it was resolved that three persons be ordained to 
the quorum of the Twelve. A committee of three 
being appointed to make the selection, Edmund C. 
Briggs, James Blakeslee and John Shippy, were 
chosen; they were ordained by Apostles Z. H. 
Gurley and W. W. Blair. On motion it was resolved 
to sustain Joseph Smith President of the Church, 
and Jason W. Briggs, Z. H. Gurley, Samuel Powers, 
E. C. Briggs, W. W. Blair, J. Blakeslee and John 
Shippy, as members of the quorum of the Twelve. 
W. W. Blair and Edmund C. Briggs were appointed 
on a mission to Western Iowa; Elder Blakeslee to 
Kirtland, Elder Powers to Canada, and Jason W. 
Briggs was requested to go to England on mission. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 635 

"Sister Emma" was appointed to make a selection 
of hymns for a hymn book, which was in excellent 
keeping with her call by the Lord in the rise of the 
Church to compile the first Latter-day Saints' hymn 
book. There were twenty-two persons baptized 
during- the conference, and nine members of the old 
organization were received without baptism. 'The 
next Annual Conference was appointed to be held 
at Amboy. 

There is a notice in the Herald of April, 1861, 
which illustrates Utah in the M olden times:"' ''Emi- 
gration from Utah is to be commenced this Spring 
(God willing) on a large scale, by the Saints of the 
Xew Organization to Western Iowa. One of the 
party has sent this information. Let the prayer of 
faith ascend to God for their protection and deliv- 
erance from their enemies." What a change has 
come in Utah since that day! 

At the April General Conference quite a number 
of branches were represented, many Elders made 
known their willingness to labor in the ministry, and 
in the quorum meeting of the Twelve, it was resolved 
that Tason W. Briggs and Samuel Powers go to 
England, on mission, accompanied by Elders Henry 
Green, Jeremiah Jeremiah and George Rosser, who 
were requested to go on a mission to Wales. The 
following" extract from a Welsh letter to one of 
these missionaries is illustrative: 

"Dear Brother Henry Green; * * * Con- 
cerning Joseph Smith, we believe thoroughly that 
he is a Prophet of the Most High, and we believe, 
too, Brigham Young has gone astray so far from the 
truth, that he ceased from beina- in favor with God 



636 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

any more; and the Church here in Wales under his 
presidency, is in a perilous situation. Hundreds 
and hundreds have left the Church, believing that 
he is an impostor, or a bad shepherd. Dear brother, 
inasmuch as you had the privilege to cast your lot 
amongst them, where the blessings of the gospel in 
their fullness have been made manifest, we beg of 
you; in the name of the Lord, to do all in your power 
to send some authorized servant to baptize us, if 
you can not come yourself, and that in a short time 
you will please to let Joseph Smith know of our 
situation; because we wanted a religion that will be 
justified by the Most High." 

The writer also said that others joined with him 
to invite the missionaries over to Wales, urging 
Brother Green to do all in his power, "even unto 
death for their salvation, and they feel to do all in 
their power to circulate the glad tidings abroad." 

A Special Conference was held at Council Bluffs, 
commencing June 7th, 1861, with Elder W. W. 
Blair as President. There being about this time 
considerable concern relative to the gathering, 
Elder Blair preached a sermon on this subject, 
affirming that "the time for all the Saints to gather 
to one place would not come until Zion is redeem- 
ed (in Jackson county.) Then the ransomed of 
the Lord shall return and come to Zion, with songs 
of everlasting joy upon their heads." Elder E. C. 
Briggs followed on the same subject, showing that 
Utah was not the place of gathering, but rather the 
place of banishment to the rejected Church. 

A Special Conference was held at Little Sioux, 
Harrison county, Iowa, August 30th, 31st, and Sep- 
tember 1st, with Elder Blair presiding. At this 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 637 

conference Elder Blair suggested that Charles 
Derry be ordained to the office of a Seventy, which 
was unanimously carried, after which he was 
ordained to the office in the first quorum of Seven- 
ties by Apostle E. C. Briggs and George Morey, 
High Priest, and Elder Briggs being " mouth" was 
filled with the spirit of prophecy. 

It was also unanimously resolved that Elder 
Charles Derry take charge of the work in the 
counties of Pottawattamie, Mills and Fremont, in 
Iowa, and a portion of Nebraska contiguous to 
Pottawattamie. Elder Derry had been to Utah, 
but had forsaken the church in the mountains, 
which was not congenial to his spiritual nature. 
This man has since been known in the Reorganized 
Church as one of the most spiritual minded of 
ministers living, and as a preacher whose inspired 
eloquence touches the hearts and intellects of his 
congregations. 

The Semi-Annual Conference of the Church was 
held near Sandwich, Illinois, October 6, 7, 8, 9, 1861; 
Joseph Smith presiding. After the conference the 
Church sent out 

"The First General Epistle of the Twelve, 
under the presidency of joseph smith, son of joseph 
the Martyr. 

" To all the Saints scattered abroad, Greeting : — 
Brethren, since it has pleased God to call forth the 
true successor in the Presidency of the Church, in 
the person of Joseph, the son of Joseph the Martyr, 
in fulfillment of the promises made to his people, 
we, in obedience to the injunctions of the Holy 
Spirit, call upon you to give ear to the voice of the 
Good Shepherd, and return to the whole law, and 



638 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

to the covenants, as that form of doctrine which 
being obeyed from the heart maketh you free from 
sin and servants of righteousness. The Bible, Book 
of Mormon, and Book of Doctrine and Covenants, 
contain that law, and those covenants or form of 
doctrine, to which we point you, saying, 'This is the 
way, walk ye in it and find rest to your souls.' Mark 
all who corrupt or pervert it, and avoid them. The 
"perilous times" shown to the ancient Apostle are 
upon us, and our refuge is in the Lord, who, thanks 
be to his name, 'holds the reins in his own hands,' 
and to the obedient alone are the promises. We 
beseech you, therefore, brethren, give no heed to 
the subtle influence of those seducing spirits which 
were to characterize the departing from the faith 
in the latter times ; but proving them by the plain 
word of God, resist them, with all those new, fanci- 
ful and strange doctrines, convenient, truly, for such 
as have turned the grace of God into lasciviousness, 
but ye have not so learned Christ; having begun 
in the Spirit, are ye to be perfected through the 
flesh ? Be it known unto all Saints that in this the 
reorganization of the Latter-day Work, we point 
only to the old paths from which so many have 
turned aside in the dark and cloudy day. To 
further this object, faithful Elders will be sent as 
speedily as possible to all quarters, including 
California, Utah, England, Scotland and Wales, and 
to enable us to do this, and to carry on the work of 
building up the kingdom of God, and to redeem the 
scattered Saints from thralldom through false guides, 
we appeal to all Saints whom the Lord hath made 
stewards, to aid the same by tithing themselves 
according to the law of God, and place it in the 
hands of the Bishop of the Church for these 
purposes. The most convenient method for doing 
this at present, appears to us to be as follows : Let 
all presidents of branches act as agents of the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 639 

Bishop, and receive all means set apart under the law 
of tithing, keeping a faithful record of all receipts 
and from whom received, holding the same subject 
to the order of the Bishop. If paid over in person, 
a receipt should be taken. All orders from the 
Bishop, and such receipts, should be preserved, and 
an exhibit thereof, and all means on hand made to 
each General Conference, that no ground of sus- 
picion as to the application of such means may 
exist. We are aware that this law has been appeal- 
ed to as a warrant for acts manifestly oppressive, 
and that the means obtained by such oppression 
have been and are used as a weapon of power to 
still further oppress the zealous and devoted. But 
the perversions, not the law, have been the instru- 
ments of this wrong. 'My ways are equal and your 
ways are unequal,' applies the execution of this law. 
Obeying it in its spirit, is equal; submitting to its 
perversion, is unequal and oppressive. To such as 
are willing to live by every word of God, and inquire, 
"What is required by this law?" we point to the 
law itself. Firstly, your surplus is required. 
Secondly, after this one tenth of your interest or 
gains from time to time. You are all stewards of 
the Great Master, and what is needed to prosecute 
your stewardship is not required ; and of this you, 
and each of you, are to judge, and be your own 
exactors, and Israel's exactors are to be all righteous. 
It is for all that have sirnamed themselves Israel, 
to see that they deal righteously in this matter, as 
between themselves and Him that seeth the hearts 
as well as the acts of men. It is but a systematic 
free-will offering, gathered where it is not needed, 
and placed where it is, for the general weal. 

"Finally, brethren, be of good cheer, for the light 
of truth shines with renewed brilliancy upon the 
pathway that Saints are called to walk. Zion, the 
pure in heart, must be redeemed by righteousness, 



64O LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

but the land of Zion by power. The first, we may 
by the grace of God work out ; the second, we leave 
in the hands of Him that hath power and doeth all 
things well. 

" Commending all the Saints to the mercy of God, 
and fellowship of His Spirit, through our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

By order of the quorum, 

Jason W. Briggs, President, 

October 25th, 1S61." 

"Appendix to the Epistle of the Twelve: — In order 
to place the Church in a position to carry on the 
promulgation of the gospel, and as a means oi 
fulfilling the law, the Twelve will take measures in 
connection with the Bishop, to execute the law of 
tithing; and let them before God see to it, that the 
temporal means so obtained is truly used for the 
purposes of the Church, and not as a weapon of 
power in the hands of one man for the oppression 
of others, or for the purposes of self-agrandizement 
by any one, be he whomsoever he may be. 

" As I live, saith the Lord, in the manner ye 
execute this matter, so shall ye be judged in the day 
of judgment. 

Joseph Smith, President of the Church 

of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints y 

Sandwich, Illinois, Oct. 7th, 1861." 

So it will be observed that this first epistle of the 
Twelve was called forth by the "word of the Lord " 
from the Prophet. 

David Hyrum Smith, at about this date, was bap- 
tized and confirmed a member of the Church which 
his father, the Martyr, had founded by the com- 
mandment of Jesus Christ. All will remember that 
David was not born until five months after the 
martyrdom of his father. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET 641 

The Annual Conference of the Chufch in 1862 
was held at Mission, LaSalle county; Illinois, from 
April 6th to the 9th,, Joseph Smith presiding; while 
a Special Conference was held at the same time at 
Galland's Grove, Iowa, under the presidency of 
Elder Blair. 

In the June number of the Herald, Elder Charles 
Deny published his "Reasons for leaving Utah/' 
a very interesting and touching article, quite an 
historical picture of the time. 

John E. Page, of the first quorum of the Twelve, 
wrote to Joseph upon his administrative policy. 
The following is a passage : 

"President Joseph Smith. 

u Dear Sir: — I have no disposition to flatter you, 
but suffice me to say, that your remarks in the 
Herald of the present instant, so completely ' hit 
the nail on the head,' relative to the executing of 
the law of tithing, that I can not refrain saying that 
it meets my highest approbation. Had what you 
have suo-o-ested been carried out from the com- 
mencement of the Church, who is able to expand 
their. ideas sufficiently extensive to comprehend the 
vast difference there would be in the standing and 
character of the Church, compared with the present. 
The position I occupied in the Church under your 
father's administration, presented me with ample 
experience and opportunity to say, that the partial 
and maladministration of the Bishops of the Church, 
of the moneys, goods and chattels of the Church, 
has done more to overthrow personal confidence. 
and the faith of the Church as brethren, than all 
other things besides." 

Another special conference was held in June of 
the churches in Western Iowa. Elder Blair presid- 

4i 



642 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

ing. Quite a number of branches were represented 
and the Elders manifested a lively spirit in the 
ministry. 

About this time David H. Smith began to make 
his mark as a poet. He appears first in the Herald 
of August, 1862, in a song of triumph — 

"THE MARCH TO ZION. 

u Hark ! Hark ! The word to you is given, 

Make haste to Zion, gather in , 
Follow the guide sent down from Heaven, 

The holy onward march begin. 
Then see the hundreds, marching onward, onward, 

Behold the thousands marching onward, onward, 
In beauteous order marching onward; 

The holy city enter in. 11 

The Semi-Annual Conference of the Church, 
October 6th, 1862, was held at Galland's Grove; 
Joseph Smith presiding, and Elders James Gillen 
and Charles Derry acting as clerks. The reports 
of the Elders and Branch representation show 
great vigor and increase. Another manifestation 
that the mission of Joseph II was destined to 
develop itself in the gathering of the "scattered 
sheep of Israel," was seen at this conference. The 
"Cutlerites" now made their appearance. President 
Joseph Smith introduced Wheeler Baldwin of 
Manti, who addressed the conference. He said : 

" I came here for good and not evil, and am 
grateful for the present opportunity. I have been 
a witness of the work of the last days thirty-two 
years, on the 8th of January next. I attended the 
first June conference, and was ordained, by the 
special direction of Joseph, to the High Priesthood. 
I attended the second general conference, held at 
Orange, and the third conference, held at Am- 
herst. * * I saw the doings of the Church until 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 643 

th: Prophet was taken away. With the books in 
re; hand I could not follow the Twelve. I could 
not get testimony to follow them to Salt Lake. 
What could I do? I could not practice their doc- 
trines. I felt that we needed ail the light we could 
obtain to guide us in this darkness. I tried to take 
the tilings in the Book of Covenants for my guide, 
and studied the revelations that I mi Hit not miss 
the grand pole star. It has done me good to hear 
our present beloved Joseph state the course we 
should have taken. He calls upon all scattered 
Israel to return to the words of the Lord; and I 
feel that this doctrine will lead us on to eternal life. 
* * * With respect to our President here, I 
have heard Father Cutler say, that when Joseph 
took his place, he would sweep the world. Our 
people have always held that Joseph's family had 
rights, and that they would possess those rights 
some time. If we (the Cutlerites\ as a people 
have missed the 'pole star,' I think we are honest 
enough to return and live; and I can say sincerely, 
1 Lord, send bv the hand of him whom thou wilt 
send.' When the first Joseph came, he had to 
make many amendments, until he had set the whole 
in proper order." 

Elder W. W. Blair said: 

" I and Eider E. C. Briggs visited that people on 
Farm Creek. Calvin Beebe was President of the 
Branch. Bro. Beebe went and inquired of the 
Lord, and obtained a testimony, and on the next 
day he told the people he knew we were servants of 
God. Brother James Badham spoke in tongues, 
and the interpr: was that this work was : 

and that the Cutlerite Branch would unite with us 
in time, and that a great work would be accomplish- 
ed in this region. We went to Manti, and tried to 
learn the nature of their organization, but failed. 



644 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

We inquired of the Lord, and obtained that knowl- 
edge, and also a testimony that, in time, they would 
unite with us." 

Bishop Israel L. Rogers said: 

" I feel to rejoice with the Saints. I am not a 
man of many words. I thank God he has given me 
a heart of feeling with you, that I can enjoy with 
you the Holy Spirit. When I see my brethren here 
that have come up through much tribulation, it 
touches a tender chord in my heart; but we must 
all come up through great tribulation ; we must all 
be tried as by fire." 

President Smith said: 

" It is pleasing to see that the spirit of peace is 
with us in our difference; and, as I believe, truth 
wins its way slowly, but will surely prevail." 

The Annual Conference of the Church, April 
6th, 1863, was held at Amboy, Joseph Smith presid- 
ing. Jason W. Briggs reported that he had been 
endeavoring to get ready to go on his mission to 
England, Scotland and Wales. He had made all 
the preparation that he could, and that he would 
go yet, if this conference desired him to do so. 
Charles Derry, who had been appointed to Eng- 
land at the October conference had announced in 
the January number of the Herald, that he expect- 
ed to be in New York in six days, to embark for 
England ; so this long contemplated mission to 
Great Britain was at last likely to be consummated 
through the example of this missionary spirit. 

It was resolved: 

"That in the opinion of this conference, there is 
no Stake to which the Saints on this continent are 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 645 

commanded to gather at the present time; but that 
the Saints on all other lands are commanded to 
gather to this land, preparatory to the re-establish- 
ment of the Church in Zion ; when the scattered 
Saints on this land, will also be commanded to 
gather and return to Zion, and to their inheritances, 
in fulfillment of the promises of God. And it is 
the duty of the Saints to turn their hearts and their 
faces towards Zion, and supplicate the Lord God 
for such deliverance." 

This Annual Conference also directed that the 
Reorganized Church send out to the world its 
" Declaration of Loyalty," as given in a former 
chapter. 

In the "news from Elders" in the May number 
of the Herald, are the following items : 

« 

" Bro. J. Jeremiah was in Cincinnati, April 22nd, 
en route for New York, to 'embark with Bro. J. W. 
Briggs for England. We hope and suppose that 
he is now in Wales and attending to the duties of 
his mission in that country, and that Bro. J. W. 
Briggs is with Bro. Charles Derry in England. 
Bro. Derry wrote from West Bromwich, Stafford- 
shire, England, April 10th, and said that he was 
sick and had not been able to fulfill several appoint- 
ments which he had made. 

Bro. E. C. Briggs, left this vicinity on the 21st 
ult, to fulfill his mission to Utah, Nevada and 
California. He expects that three or four Elders 
will accompany him, and co-operate with him in his 
mission." 

The foreign missionaries now began to make 
report of their labors in the re-opening of the 
Latter-day mission to the nations. Elder Jason W. 



646 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Briggs, in a letter to Bishop Rogers, dated " West 
Bromwich, Staffordshire, England, May 25th, 1863," 
says : 

"We arrived in Liverpool, May 14th. The next 
day we went to Birmingham, and the morning after 
came to this place, where we found Bro. Derry, who 
had been laboring in this place and vicinity. He 
had baptized one, and the next day he baptized 
three others, and a branch was organized of six 
members ; some uniting without baptism. Well 
this looks like taking hold of the end of the rod of 
iron in this land as in the beginning. Every 
obstacle is thrown in our way by those who call 
themselves Elders of the Church of Christ, but hail 
from the land set apart for the rebellious, viz, 'a 
dry' and 'a salt land.' (See Jer. 1 7 :6, and Psalms 
68 : 6.) I doubt not when you hear from us again, 
this branch will have increased its numbers. We 
have information verbally and by letter from differ- 
ent parts, all going to show that notwithstanding 
the vigorous measures taken to stifle all investi- 
gation and smother all dissatisfaction, there are 
those yet in the land, who having been made free 
by the truth, are not willing to surrender that 
freedom. * * * We intend to enlarge the field 
of our labor, extending it to Wales, whither Bro. 
Jeremiah went, after three days stay in this place. 
We have a room, arid are holding meetings regular- 
ly in this place, as Bro. Derry had done something 
before. The work of restoring the Church in this 
land to its original standing before the Lord, by 
returning to the law of God, may be slow and 
laborious, but it will surely be done, and the pure 
in heart, in this land, will greet the true Saints in 
the" land of Zion, and in union will accomplish the. 
great purpose of God in this dispensation." 

A special conference was held in the North Star 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 647 

Branch, Pottawattamie county, Iowa, June 6, 1863; 
Elder Blair presiding. The reports of the elders 
show great spirit and increase everywhere at about 
this period. Elder Wheeler Baldwin (formerly of 
the Cutlerite division) bore a strong testimony to 
the divinity of the Reorganization, a nd said that 
"he had not enjoyed the Spirit and power of God 
so much for the past thirty years, as he had since 
he united with this work last March. The power 
of God's Holy Spirit was with the people in the 
branch at Manti, and he looked to see many more 
united with them soon." 
Elder Blair said: 

" In March I left Council Bluffs for Amboy, to 
attend the April Conference, and went preaching by 
the way. At Manti, Fremont county, I preached a 
few times ; baptized some who had formerly been 
Methodists, some Campbellites, some Presbyterians, 
and some old Lajtter-dav Saints; and organized 
them, with three who had been previously baptized 
by Brother Joseph, into a branch, numbering in all 
twenty-two, Wheeler Baldwin president and S. S. 
Wilcox clerk. The dear Lord blessed my labors 
mightily in word and deed. * • * A testimony was 
given me by brother and sister Reals, of Manti, 
relative to young Joseph. Here it is as they gave 
it to me : 

'• ; During a visit of Joseph Smith and family, in June, 1S39, 
at Mr. Anson Matthews', near Table Grove, McDonough 
county, Illinois, we heard the Prophet sav that he had some- 
times thought his enemies would kill him; 'and if thev do,' 
said he, ' this boy,' putting his hand on young Joseph's head, 
'will finish the work in mv place.'" 

On the 20th of June a special conference was 
held at String Prairie, Lee county, Iowa; Joseph 






648 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Smith presiding. In the reports of missions, Elder 
John Shippy said: 

"At the last April Conference I was appointed to 
preside over Canada and Northern Michigan, with 
the understanding that I should go on that mission 
after the close of this conference, in company with 
brother Gillen. I left Amboy with him, and went 
to Kewanee, where I found a great many old Saints, 
principally from England and Wales, some of whom 
were intending to go to Utah. We commenced a 
series of meetings, baptized eight and organized 
a branch while there, and the Spirit of the Lord 
attended us as at the beginning, and we left them 
rejoicing in the work of the Lord, and others were 
investigating." 

Brother Shippy's is about a specimen of the 
reports of the elders of their labors at that date, so 
that it may be seen the spirit of the work was alive 
in the land. At this conference Bro. John H. Lake 
(afterwards one of the Twelve) was ordained an 
Elder. 

A special conference was held June 27th and 28th, 
at Elk Grove, Lafayette county, Wisconsin, under 
the presidency of Father Gurley ; these numerous 
conferences showing the activity of the presiding 
men of the Church. 

Elder Charles Derry, writing from West Brom- 
wich, England, July 7th, said: 

" We have a branch of thirteen members in this 
place , I expect to baptize another this week. Elder 
Briggs went down to Lydney, in Gloucestershire, 
on the 1 6th of June; John H. Morgan, a Brigham- 
ite Elder, to whom I had written before, received 
him kindly, and scattered a notification among the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 649 

people, and the result was about twenty old Saints 
assembled on the next Sabbath and heard him gladly, 
and he organized a branch of eight members, Elder 
Morgan being president ; the remainder wanted a 
little further time to consider. He then went to 
Brother Jeremiah in Pennydarren, near Merthyr 
Tydvil, South Wales, and there they organized a 
branch. Elder Jeremiah informed me that when he 
preached there the previous Sabbath, two Brigham- 
ite elders from Aberdare waited on him, and told 
him they were elders in good standing in the Brig- 
hamite Church, but as soon as he could come over 
to that place there was a sufficient number desiring 
to be organized into a branch of the Reorganized 
Church. * * I think it likely that the Welsh will 
receive it sooner than the English. Elder Briggs 
says the work has commenced there in the same 
street, and within half a stone's throw of where it 
commenced in Wales in the days of Joseph; and it 
is received by the very people that received it then.' 

Bro. E. H. Webb,, of Sacramento, Cal., wrote : 

"I am happy to learn that the missionaries are on 
the way here. . May the Lord abundantly prosper 
them in each location of their intended labors. I 
believe they will be well received here. Here are 
hosts of scattered sheep, and all without a shep- 
herd. I have been among them somewhat, but they 
all seem too timid to venture a step (lest it should 
be a wrong one) till the missionaries arrive." 

Stirring letters now began to arrive from Utah, 
from Edmund C. Briggs, of the Twelve, who was 
accompanied by Alexander McCord, of the Seventy, 
The first is dated Salt Lake City, August 18th, 
1863. He says : 

"At Fort Bridger we were required to take the 



650 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

dath of allegiance to the Government of the United 
States, which we willingly did ; and on our arrival 
here we at once drove up to ' President ' Brigham 
Youngs house. His clerks told me he was not at 
home. We then put up at the Mansion House, 
kept by Mr. Tuft and his mother, a widow, who 
treated us kindly; and on Tuesday, nth inst., we 
had an interview with Brigham Young- in his own 
office. There were twenty-five or thirty of his asso- 
ciates and two secretaries present. I at once intro- 
duced the object of our presence, and under whose 
directions we came, and what we expected to accom- 
plish by coming ; and with all I bore testimony of 
the sure calling and true standing of President and 
Prophet Joseph Smith, the son of the martyr. He 
said that he knew more of that family than they 
knew of themselves, that Emma is a 'wicked, wicked, 
wicked woman,' and always was ; that Joseph is act- 
ing under the influence of his mother; that she is 
at the bottom of this work, and our mission here ; 
that the heavens have nothing to do with that family 
at present; but they shall be felt after in time ; but 
they are under the influence of the devil now; that 
all Joseph wants is to associate with the murderers 
of his father, &c. He said, ' I do not want any of 
your preaching here, or your doctrine, and I will 
immediately write and advertise you and warn the 
people not to receive you, or your doctrine into 
their houses; and while I have influence over the 
Bowery you can't hold meetings ; and then he threw 
out some intimidations to us, and gave U s to under- 
stand we should be watched, that he wanted us to 
be gentlemen, and other low insinuations. We then 
told him w r e had come to do good, and that we were 
not in the least daunted or fearful, though intimida- 
tions had been thrown out at us before, and since 
we had arrived here, by him and his adherents, &c. 
We then bid him good day, and since then all man- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 65 1 

ner of stories are afloat against us. Every crime 
you can think of, we are charged with, and I suppose 
some of the people believe them, but we console 
ourselves without noticing- them enough to contra- 
diet them, with the blessed promises of our dear 
Savior who said, ' Blessed are ye when men shall 
revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all man- 
ner of evil against you falsely for my sake.' We 
have an appointment for the first meeting in the 
Territory next Sunday, August 23d, at the residence 
of the Hon. Judge Waite, by his proffered kindness 
and that of his noble wife, who have opened their 
house to our service whenever we wish to hold 
meetings. We find some true friends here, though 
poverty is seen in their little dwellings wherever 
they welcome us with hospitality. They detest the 
evils of this people as much as any can in this 
world. We have seen many here who feel that they 
are in bondage, and are mourning for that deliver- 
ance that is promised ; but we realize the literal ful- 
fillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah, 17:6: 'For 
he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall 
not see when good cometh ; but shall inhabit the 
parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and 
not inhabited."' 

From letters received from Utah by Bro. W. D. 
Morton, dated September 15th, are culled the fol- 
lowing" extracts : 

" I am actually astonished at what has taken 
place here. It will be four weeks to-morrow since 
the brethren arrived, and notwithstanding every 
obstacle is thrown in their way, some sixteen have 
been baptized, and that too not in secret or in the 
dark, but in broad, open daylight, to the great joy 
of all who then and there joined the Reorganiza- 
tion, and they were confirmed the same evening. * 



652 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

* The seed is sown, the leaven is laid ; it is grow- 
ing, it is working. The glad tidings are spreading, 
and as a matter of course, men and devils are awfully 
raging for fear of what is coming. We have four 
meetings weekly. * ' * I am thankful to say I am 
inexpressibly happy in the realization of gospel 
blessings. Utah has never before yielded such peace 
of mind and consolation as now. I feel at times 
that I could say w r ith Simeon, ' Lord now lettest 
thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have 
seen thy salvation.'" 

'Tis the heart of Utah bursting at last into speech! 
Oh! what agony of heart and intellect has she felt ! 
But the time of her full and perfect redemption will 
yet come. This was the beginning, and the mis- 
sionaries and the disciples rejoiced thus together. 
"As the first fruits of Utah," said one of the writers, 
"may the hallowing power of the blessed Spirit 
enable us to cast an halo of compassionate love 
around, giving courage and perseverence to enable 
us to pluck some brands from the fire." 

Elder Briggs in his letter of October 12th, to the 
Herald, gave an epitome of thrilling items from the 
sermons of the October conference. The following 
are a few of them. Brigham Young, in the Bow- 
ery, said : 

"x^s to the subject of the Prophet Joseph, (what 
shall I call it), or Josephism ; you have heard of 
that Young Josephism; it is a humbug, and of the 
devil. Let me just say here that I know more of 
that family than any man living, and Joseph Smith 
that now lives in Illinois, will never lead this people, 
the Latter-day Saints; but there was a son born in 
November 18th, 1844, and Joseph told me that David 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 653 

would lead this Church, and others can testify 
to this. * * * Joseph is a confirmed infidel, and 
Emma I know, and have known her for years; and 
she tried to destroy the Church, and to influence 
Joseph against the Twelve, against Brigham, Heber 
and others, and tried to destroy Joseph by adminis- 
tering poison to him, which she did several times ; 
but she gave him too much and he vomited it, and 
she was always opposed to Joseph, and filled with 
the devil. * * * If one of Joseph's children take 
the lead of the Church, he will come and place him- 
self at the head of this Church, and I will receive 
him as willingly as any one here; but if any one 
wan f - to harbor any of these hypocrites that are 
running around here, let them do so, but apostatize 
altogether.'' 

"After he closed," wrote Elder Briggs, "I then 
arose from my seat and walked up near to the stand 
and said, 'Will the president allow me to speak to 
this congregation for myself?' He replied, 'No.' 
I said, 'Will you allow me to read an epistle from 
the pen of Brother" Joseph. He replied, 'No; let 
the police take care of this man.' He replied to me 
in an excited, angry, and loud manner; and as I 
started back to my seat I met the police, who kindly 
said, 'I would take a seat,' which I did, and wrote 
the remarks of George A. Smith, who was the next 
speaker. 

"George A. Smith said, 'When I was on a mission 
to the east, I saw young Joseph in Illinois. He 
met me with a cold shoulder, and every single ques- 
tion I asked him he met me with a cold, flat, rebuff, 
and I made up my mind that he was a confirmed 
infidel; and Bro. Taylor, who was with me, asked 
him if he read the Book of Mormon?' He replied, 
'I once read it as a school book, but have not read 
it lately.' Do you believe it is true? He again 
said' 'If I tell you what I think of it, it will hurt 



654 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

your feelings.' What could I infer but that he was 
an infidel? How could it hurt our feelings to say 
that the Book of Mormon is true ?" 

(The explanation of Joseph's real meaning has 
been given in a former chapter.) 

"John Taylor said, 'Emma was saying something, 
and making a fuss, and I spoke to Joseph about it. 
It was about this plurality, and he said to me, Bro. 
Taylor, Sister Emma would dethrone Jehovah, if it 
was in her power, but what she would carry out her 
purposes.' " 

Thus did these Apostles treat the missionaries, 
and speak of the family of the Prophet whom they 
professed to love. But in the reverse of this, mark 
what Joseph wr^te of his wife in pouring out his 
affections and revery of his mind while hiding from 
the mob a few days before his martyrdom: 

" How glorious were my feelings when I met that 
faithful and friendly band on the night of the 11th. 
* * * What transports of joy swelled my bosom 
when I took by the hand, on that night, my beloved 
Emma, — she that was my wife, even the wife of my 
youth, and the choice of my heart. * * * What 
a commingling of thought filled my mind for the 
moment. Again she is here, even in the seventh 
trouble, undaunted, firm and unwavering, unchan^e- 
able, affectionate Emma!" — See Hist. J. Smith, Mill. Star. 

For the purity of history, surely this is of more 
value than these blasphemies of Apostate Elders 
against a noble woman and wife, whose very pres- 
ence in the world was a supreme protest to their 
polygamic iniquity : it i-s the last testimony of her 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 655 

martyred husband to her faithfulness and worth, and 
of his undying love for her. 

And John Taylor himself bore a testimony of the 
Prophet's wife a few months after the martyrdom, 
very unlike the tenor of his remarks in the presence 
of the ministers sent by her son. There had been 
a rumor among the anti-Mormon folks, (who, be- 
lieving Mormonism was a fraud, supposed it would 
explode at the death of its Prophet), that sister 
Emma was about to give a full exposure. This 
rumor called forth from John Taylor the following, 
in the Times and Seasons, January 1 5 th, 1845: 

" Suppose we say a word concerning the Prophet's 
wife, Mrs. Emma Smith ; she honored her husband 
while living, and she will never knowingly dishonor 
his good name while his martyred blood mingles 
with mother earth! Mrs. Smith is an honorable 
woman, and if we are not deceived, is as far from 
the corrupt insinuations in this ninety-ninth expose 
of Mormonism, as a fixed star is from a gambler's 
lamp at midnight. The very idea that so valuable 
and beloved a lady, could be coaxed into a fame of 
disgrace, like the above, is as cruel and bloody as 
the assassination of her husband at Carthage. 
There is no honor or shame in this generation; or, 
after they had murdered an affectionate husband, 
and left his wife and a large family of small children 
to mourn his loss, and struggle against the woes of 
life, they would give the family a chance to drink 
once without the wormwood and gall! 

"The fact is, the story must have been put in cir- 
culation to injure the Latter-day Saints; and as 
Mrs. Smith was one of them, to destroy, or murder 
her reputation, and create division in the Church ; 
but let us say once for all — Mormonism exists by 
unity ; and as to its exposures, ten thousand Elders 



656 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

are constantly exposing it. to the understanding of 
the world, in America, Europe, Asia, the islands of 
the sea, and peradventure to the spirits in prison." 

Here now we have a testimony agreeing, and in 
some of the expressions almost to the very words — ■ 
with the testimony of the Prophet Joseph concern- 
ing his wife, the " Elect Lady" of the Church. 
John Taylor's testimony in Nauvoo was given from 
the irresistible force of facts present, and from the 
universal knowledge of her among the Saints, in 
Joseph's words, as the " undaunted, firm and un- 
wavering, unchangeable, affectionate Emma!" If 
the words of John Taylor were so true in Nauvoo 
— that "she honored her husband while living;" 
that in her character as a wife, a woman and Saint, 
she was "as a fixed star," and that "the very idea" 
that she would "dishonor his good name" and be- 
tray the Church was " as cruel and bloody as the 
assassination of her husband, at Carthage," what, 
then, shall be said of this " cruel and bloody " assas- 
sination of the Elect Lady by the apostles in the 
Tabernacle of the congregation? "There is no 
honor or shame in this generation " might well be 
said of those men of the Twelve who have never, 
since they betrayed the Church, given the Prophet's 
family "a chance to drink once without the worm- 
wood and gall " when their hands have administer- 
ed the cup. Hear what this same apostle John 
said concerning "Young Joseph " and the Reorgan- 
ized Church : — " The whole system is built upon 
the face of lies, and Joseph is associated with the 
murderers of his father!" What a wife that so 
poisoned her husband! What a son that so mur- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 657 

dered his father ! What a Twelve that thus bore 
witness ! 

But this apostolic tragedy performed in the 
Tabernacle for the Josephite missionaries in 1863, 
was not without its farce as will be seen by Bri-g- 
ham's close : 

" Now I am going to wind up. Now you that 
love Joseph Smith and his family, I am going to 
make you a proposal, that is this: Joseph F. Smith, 
and here is Samuel Smith, sons of Hyrum and 
Samuel, &c. Now I propose that we give them 
Si 000, to each of them. Now you who love so 
much Joseph Smith's family, and you Josephites, 
will you show how much you love them? Here 
now are some Josephites. I will give $100. Heber 
says he will give $100." 

A vote was taken to make the present. Brigham 
said, 

" Rather faint. I* guess you love the money 
more than you love the Josephites." 

What a test to make to see how the Church 
stood ! Brigham's judgment of the worst part of 
human nature, and the selfishness of the priest- 
hood, was absolutely infallible ! 

Tason W. Bribes, writing from Birmingham, Ene- 
gland, November 24th, said : 

" The news from Wales is encouraging for the 
progress of the work. I have been laboring for 
some time past in this place and vicinity, and have 
held nine public discussions in Birmingham, West 
Bromwich, Wednesbury, and Wolverhampton. At 
the latter place, I found some of the old Saints, who 
then for the first time were informed of the exis- 

42 



658 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

tence of the Reorganization, and they seemed 
much interested concerning it. I shall look after 
them again this week. The work is going steadily 
onward, and with perseverance and patience, the 
Kingdom of God will be re-established in this land." 

The first General Conference of the Reorganized 
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 
British Isles, was held in Pennydarren, Merthyr- 
Tydvil, Wales, on the 26th and 27th days of De- 
cember, 1863. Elder J. W. Briggs was called to the' 
chair, and Elder Charles Derry to act as scribe. 
The following cullings from the report will be found 
interesting and illustrative. 

" The president gave an outline of the business 
to be attended to, after which he reported that since 
he left this place, he had been laboring in Birming- 
ham and vicinity. The fruits of that labor did not 
as yet appear, but he had good faith that it would. 
His object had been to disabuse the public mind, 
and to show the difference between Mormonism and 
its perversion. He had held several discussions on 
the subject in different places in public, and he 
thought it likely that the individual set on by the 
clergy to tear down the truth would turn round and 
walk with us and help us." 

Elder Jeremiah said: 

" I left this place about five weeks ago and went 
to* a place called Maesteg. I found Brighamites 
there. ■ After some talk, some acknowledged that, if 
God had a Church on the earth, this was it. One 
commanded me to leave his house in the name of 
Jesus Christ ; but I did not think proper to leave at 
the command, for I knew Jesus Christ would not 
order his own word out. He then ordered me out 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 659 

in his own name, and of course I obeyed. I visited 
Neath, and among others I talked with David Da- 
vies, who acknowledged the truth; many called me 
a false prophet. I went down to Llanelly, and 
found the Saints there in good order. It appeared 
that when they were connected with the Brigham- 
ites, that they all met in a chapel of which Brother 
Thomas Thomas is the only Trustee, and when he 
and others united with the Reorganized Church, 
they waited upon the Brighamites, by my advice, to 
suggest the propriety of our using the chapel one 
Sabbath and they another, but they would not 
agree to it. Thomas Thomas then demanded the 
key, but they treated him with contempt, and would 
not give it up. He then broke open the door and 
forbade them using it any more, and we hold the 
chapel, and good is being done there. I visited a 
number of other places and found some that could 
see the light ; others said I would be in hell soon, 
but they were sorry for me, for they thought I was 
honest." 

We can not follow the reports of the Elders, a 
number of whom were now busily laboring in 
England and Wales; but the foregoing with the 
following from Elder Charles Derry's report, will 
give a view of the work of these Elders in the re- 
opening of the foreign missions : 

In Gloster, Elder Derry found a man by the 
name of James Wiltshire, whom he knew in Utah. 
This man took hundreds of pounds with him to 
Utah. He was now working for fifteen shillings 
per week. But his poverty had not stripped him or 
his love for truth, and he received him gladly and 
commenced to investigate, and told him his humble 
fare was at his command. After investigation he 



66o LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

declared his intention to be baptized. Others of 
the old church are investigating the matter, but the 
majority have lost their manhood and dare not 
examine. He visited Cheltenham and distributed 
the written word, and talked where he could get a 
chance. Through the kindness of Mr. Wiltshire he 
was introduced to a family that never had been in 
the Church, who made him welcome to their shelter. 
He found another family that had been to Utah, 
the lady received him kindly, and when the man 
came home, he introduced- himself as a missionary 
come to look after the scattered sheep; when the 
man told him, rather abruptly, that he need not 
trouble himself about him, for he should never have 
anything to do with Mormonism again. Elder 
Derry told him he must be his own judge about 
that, but he knew that if he was an honest, truth- 
loving man, he would come into the fold of God. 
He preached to him. The lady invited him to sup 
with them, and when he left to look after some place 
to sleep at, the man went with him a little distance, 
pressed his hand like a brother and begged him to 
forgive his abruptness, and heartily thanked him for 
his trouble in coming to visit him. Elder Derry 
said he visited a little place called Castle Eaton, in 
Wiltshire, the birthplace of his wife ; the people 
received him kindly on their account. He talked 
to the Brighamites, and all that he saw were very 
reasonable, and willing to talk with him, and treated 
him kindly. He believed there was a good work to 
be done in the places mentioned, notwithstanding 
the efforts of the Brighamite Elders to close the 
doors and hearts of the people against him. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 66l 

In a letter from Elder W. W. Blair, dated Little 
Sioux, Iowa, December 27th, the writer said : 

" I must tell you something more of the good 
time we had last October, in visiting around with 
Brothers Joseph, Alexander and Davi.d Smith, and 
Bro. Wm. Davis. We stopped at the house of Bro. 
Alexander McCord. That night Joseph had a 
remarkable night vision, which he told me in the 
morning. He said: ' I saw in my dream a woman, 
whom I was to receive into my charge, and under 
my watch-care and counsel, and she was almost 
wild, having been held captive a long season by 
barbarians, who had degraded and dishonored her. 
She was nearly naked. The clothes that were upon 
her were tattered and torn, and very filthy withal, 
and her whole appearance was that of extreme 
wretchedness. In her pitiable condition, she looked 
with distrust upon all around her, especially upon 
me, apparently fearing lest I, too, would abuse and 
disgrace her. My heart was deeply moved with her 
deplorable condition. I ordered that she be washed, 
her hair combed, and that suitable apparel be given 
her, including clean underclothes. My request 
having been complied with, I now saw her again; 
but how changed, — how entirely different from what 
I saw her last. Her garments now were of spotless 
purity, her eye beamed with joy and delight, her 
fears and misgivings were entirely banished, and she 
expressed her unbounded gratitude to me, as her 
friend and benefactor, while she clasped her arms 
around my neck, and imprinted upon my cheek a 
multitude of kisses, with all the tender affection of 
a mother.'" 

The woman was the Church ! 

"At Manti," continued Elder Blair, "we had a 
joyous time. In one of the evening prayer meetings, 



662 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Brother Joseph spoke in prophecy relative to the 
work the Lord had lately begun hi that place ; im- 
mediately upon this David arose in the congrega- 
tion in the Spirit of the Lord, and sang two verses 
of a beautiful hymn which he afterward wrote down : 

" 'Let us shake off the coals from our garments, 
And arise in the strength of the Lord ' " &c. 



1864 



The year 1864 opened with "good news from 
Canada." The work was prosperous there in the 
ministry of Elders Shippy and Gillen. 

The first conference of the Reorganized Church 
in Utah was held January 26th. Present: of the 
Twelve, E. C. Briggs ; of the Seventies, Alexander 
McCord. R. H. Atwood, clerk. 

The General Annual Conference of the Church 
this year was held at Amboy, commencing April 
6th; Joseph Smith presiding, and President Wm. 
Marks assisting, Isaac Sheen and J. W. Gillen 
secretaries. The reports this year of the Elders 
were full and spirited, showing that missionary 
operations at home and abroad had been brought 
into an excellent organic shape. Elders were 
appointed to Great Britain, Canada and Utah, as 
well as in many parts of the States, and special 
conferences ordered, which had now become too 
numerous for the historic thread to follow. 

Elder Webb, writing from Sacramento, California, 
March 23rd, said: 

"I can vouch for fifty-one who have been baptized 
into the Reorganized Church in California, and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 663 

probably there are several others. We have six 
branches of the Church, with presidents as follows: 
Sacramento branch, Cornelius Bagnall ; San Fran- 
cisco, T. J. Andrews; Folsom, Jeremiah Thomas; 
Dry Creek, Thomas Phillips ; Watsonville, George 
Adams. 

"April 6th, 1864, was a great day in Utah with the 
Reorganized Church ; for on that day was held the 
first General Conference of the Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Rocky Mountains, 
under the presidency of Joseph Smith. It was the 
prophecy of that which shall more abundantly 
appear when Israel of the Mountains are redeemed 
and Latter-day Israel in every land shall have one 
shepherd and one fold. 

" The report set forth that 'about one hundred 
members have joined the Reorganized Church in 
Salt Lake City, and fifty-two in Provo City.' North 
Ogden branch reported thirty members. The work 
is very prosperous in Weber County, and surround- 
ing country. Several Elders who had been engaged 
in the ministry said they found the people every- 
where where they traveled more or less dissatisfied 
with Brighamism, believing their leaders were 
ambitious of worldly honors and self aggrandizement 
under the cloak of religion, but through fear and 
intimidation they were prevented from avowing 
their sentiments publicly." 

It was'resolved "that a conference of the Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints be organized 
in this Territory, divided into Northern, Southern 
and Central Districts, Salt Lake City to be the 
Central." Elder Thomas Squires was ordained 
an High Priest and appointed to preside over the 
conference. Frederick Ursenbach was ordained an 
High Priest, and Henry Ursenbach an Elder, and 



664 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

they were appointed on a mission to Switzerland, 
with instructions to call upon President Joseph 
Smith on their route. Thomas Job, Alex. Williams 
and David Pudney, were ordained Elders ; R. H. 
Atwood a Seventy; John Stiles an High Priest; 
and Elders George M. Rush, P. Peterson, J. Han- 
sen and C. W. Lange, were sustained as traveling 
Elders, and I. Green a Priest, in the ministry. 
There were twelve or fourteen baptized during this 
conference. A two-days' meeting was appointed to 
be held in North Ogden, June 4th and 5th, and a 
special conference to be held in Salt Lake City, 
July 23rd and 24th. This detail will give a view of 
the first ministry of the Reorganized Church in 
Utah under the direction of Elders E. C. Briggs 
and Alexander McCord. 

The second Quarterly Conference for California 
was held at Sacramento, May 14th and 15th, E. H. 
Webb, president. Eight branches of the Church 
were represented, comprising 104 members, includ- 
ing 22 Elders, 7 Priests, 2 Teachers, and 1 Deacon. 

Here is a notice suggestive of the movements 
in Great Britain : " The Restorer is published 
monthly, by the Reorganized Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter-day Saints, and edited by J. W. 
Briggs ; price, three pence ; address the Editor, 305 
High Street, Pennydarren, Merthyr Tydvil, Gla- 
morganshire, Wales." 

This will illustrate that the restoration was find- 
ing Wales in the lead among foreign nations. 
Indeed in the history of the Latter-day work it has 
been proven that the Welsh are the most inspir- 
ational race in modern times, almost equal to the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 665 

ancient Hebrews. The miracles wrought among 
the Welsh Saints compare with those recorded of 
sacred times ; the history of the Latter-day work 
in Wales from the beginning (before the apostasy) 
will afford marvelous proof that Joseph Smith was 
sent of God. 

The first conference of the Reorganized Church 
in Canada was held July 9th, 1864. A number of 
districts were represented and legislated for; the 
work in Canada being" continued under the mission- 
aries, Elders Shippy and Gillen. 

The General Semi-Annual Conference of the 
Church this year was held at Galland's Grove, 
commencing October 6th ; Joseph Smith presiding. 

Elders Charles Derry and J. W. Briggs returned 
from their mission to Great Britain at about this 
date, Elder Derry being at the Semi-Annual Con- 
ference at which he represented the missions abroad. 

E C. Briggs had left Utah for California and 
Nevada. 

The work in St. Louis and vicinity was prosper- 
ous, and vigorously prosecuted. Bro. Alexander 
Smith was the presiding missionary in that district. 

The year 1864 closed with general prosperity 
attending the Reorganized Church. The work in 
Utah during the year had been wonderfully pros- 
perous, but emigration of the converts to the States 
de-populated our little "Zion" in the "Salt k'nd." 
The following from R. H. Atwood, dated Salt Lake 
City, November 23rd, is very suggestive : 

"The work of the Lord is prosperous in every 
part with us. We are surely and steadily moving 



666 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

onward. About four hundred have joined the 
Reorganization in this Territory during the past 
year. Nearly all of the Saints here are making 
preparation for an early start east in the Spring. 
* * * As soon as we baptize any into the 
Reorganization, they are for leaving this country as 
soon as possible. There is no counsel given them 
on the subject. In my simple judgment it is the 
greatest hindrance we have here. We no sooner 
get a place open than the Saints leave, and the 
ground has to be broken over again. If they had 
not hurried away we should now have had three or 
four times the number of places open. In American 
Fork we have now better meetings than the Brig- 
hamites, and those under fear and intimidation 
attend, and one by one embrace the truth. In the 
Spring I expect they will all leave : then of course 
it will take time to make another breach, and so it 
is with other places." 

It must be confessed that with the bitter experi- 
ences which the Saints from the old country met in 
Utah, this return emigration was in decided keep- 
ing with their "redemption" from the bondage of 
priestcraft ; yet it is but the plain statement of 
history to affirm that, had the converts remained 
establishing branches everywhere, the Josephites in 
Utah at the death of Brigham Young would have 
been ten thousand strong, holding the very destiny 
of that Territory in their own hands. 'Tis a lesson 
of the past for the improvement of the, future. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 667 

1865 . 

The Annual Conference of the Church, -this year, 
was held at Piano; Joseph Smith presiding. Very 
important business was transacted. Among the 
resolutions were the following. 

" Resolved, That the names of Daniel B. Razy, 
David Newkirk and George White, be stricken from 
the Quorum of the Twelve." 

Z. H. Gurley, W. W. Blair and A. M. Wilsey, hav- 
ing been appointed a committee for the purpose, 
nominated Josiah Ells and Charles Derry to fill the 
places of D. B. Razy and David Newkirk in the 
Quorum of the Twelve, which passed into a resolu- 
tion, and they were ordained apostles under the 
hands of Joseph Smith, James Blakeslee and Z. H. 
Gurley. 

In the " Latter-da^y Saints' Herald," May ist, 
1865, Joseph Smith sent out his "Salutatory" as 
the Editor. 

In a council of the First Presidency and Quorum 
of the Twelve, held at the residence of Bishop 
Israel L. Rogers, near Sandwich, it was 

" Resolved, That the First Presidency and the 
Quorum of the Twelve, declare to the Church that 
the doctrine of sealing, as relating to marriage for 
eternity, is a heresy, and hence not taught or sanc- 
tioned by the law of God. 

" Resolved, That the First Presidency and the 
Quorum of the Twelve, re-affirm the article pub- 
lished in the Herald on the first of May, 1863, 
entitled ' Loyalty of the Saints.' 

" Resolved, That the First Presidency and the 
Quorum of the Twelve, declare that the Choice 



668 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Seer spoken of in the Book of Mormon, second 
chapter of the second Nephi, is Joseph Smith the 
martyr." 

Then followed a discussion by the council on the 
Negro race, touching the Priesthood, the delicacy 
of which question decided these elders to enquire 
of the Lord. Here are the resolutions and revela- 
tion : 

" Resolved, That the gospel makes provision for 
the ordination of men of the Negro race, who are 
received into the Church by obedience to its ordin- 
ances. 

" After much discussion, it was 

" Resolved, That we refer the above matter to 
the Lord, and that we come together fasting and 
praying to God, that he will reveal his will on this 
point unto his servant Joseph Smith. 

" The Quorum carried this resolution into effect, 
and sought earnestly and diligently unto the Lord, 
and on the following day the Lord was pleased to 
answer our prayers, and we received the following 
revelation through His servant Joseph: 

REVELATION GIVEN MAY 4 th, 1865. 

"'Hearken ye Elders of my Church, I am He who hath 
called you friends. Concerning the matter you have asked of 
me: Ld, it is my will that my gospel shall be preached to all 
nations in every land, and that men of every tongue should 
minister before me; therefore, it is expedient in me that you 
ordain Priests unto me, of every race who receive the teachings 
of my law and become heirs according to the promise. 

" ' Be ye very careful, for many elders have been ordained 
unto me, and are come under my condemnation, by reason of 
neglecting to lift up their voices in my cause, and for such there 
is tribulation and anguish; haply they themselves may be saved, 
(if doing no evil), though their glory which is given for their 
works be withheld, or in other words their works are burned, 
not being profitable unto me. 

"' Loosen ye one another's hands and uphold one another, 
that ye who are of the Quorum of the Twelve may all labor 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 669 

in the vineyard, for upon you rests much responsibility ; and _f 
ye labor diligently, the time is soon when others shall be added 
to your number till the quorum be full, even twelve. 

"'Be not hasty in ordaining men of the Negro race to offices 
in my church, for verily I say unto you, all are not acceptable 
unto me as servants, nevertheless I will that all may be saved, 
but every man in his own order, and there are some who are 
chosen instruments to be ministers to their own race. Be ye 
content, I the Lord have spoken it.' " 

In a letter of date August 21st, from Elder Job, 
then president of the Utah Mission, he said : 

"I accepted a mission in this Territory at the last 
April Conference, and as there was no other elder 
left here after the emigration had gone east, -that 
was able to take a mission, I had to go out alone. I 
found that the Saints who had to remain here were 
only a few, and those scattered, numbering in all 
about twenty souls, and most of those poor as to 
circumstances, and much downcast in spirit, and 
some indeed, in a suffering condition, being depend- 
ent 6n their enemies, for maintenance. We had two 
skeletons of branches left, one in Salt Lake City, 
and another in Provo; in Salt Lake City the saints 
had no place to hold meetings at present, so I had 
to travel a good while without preaching at all : as 
I could not rajse meetings in places where branches 
had been broken up, I thought I would break up 
new ground." 

This is illustrative of the history of the Reorgan- 
ized Church in Utah in 1865 ; its chief causes were 
emigration of the " Josephites," and the terrible 
tracks which the Brighamites made that year to 
exterminate them. 

But excepting in Utah, the missions generally 
at home and abroad were very prosperous during 
the year 1865. 



67O LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 



1866. 



The Annual Conference was held in Piano, for 
the year 1866, under Presidents Joseph Smith and 
William Marks. The following culled from the 
resolutions of the conference will, of itself give an 
historic page of the times : 

" Resolved that the time has arrived for the 
Church to publish the New Translation of the 
Bible." Also "That Wm. Marks, Israel L. Rogers 
and W. W. Blair be appointed a committee, to con- 
fer • with Sister Emma Bidamon, respecting the 
relinquishment of the manuscripts of the New 
Translation of the Scriptures, for the purpose of 
publishing the same to the Church and the world, 
and that said committee be empowered to enter 
into and fulfill the contract for the same." 

" That the Church take immediate measures to 
release the hands of the Twelve, that they* may 
carry the gospel to the nations of the earth ; That 
the Bishops be instructed to collect means for that 
purpose ; That in view of the demand of the work 
in Utah, it is deemed advisable that, as far as 
practicable, the Saints in that region remain for the 
present ; That Elder J. W. Gillen be appointed a 
mission to Utah ; That considering the European 
Mission is of great importance, and should at once 
be entered upon if possible, Jason W. Briggs and 
Josiah Ells are appointed to that mission, and that 
in these missions, new fields of labor are to be open- 
ed, and churches organized, as the Spirit may from 
time to time direct; That the California Mission 
comprise the States of Nevada, California and 
Oregon and the Territory of Washington ; That 
Alexander H. Smith be appointed to take charge of 
the California Mission, and empowered to choose 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 6jl 

his fellow-laborers ; he chose Wm. Anderson and 
William H. Kelley." 

The following constitutional and gospel resolu- 
tions are very important : 

" Resolved, That we recognize no other rule by 
which to test the validity of the baptism of persons 
who have embraced the gospel, except the fruit and 
manifestation of the Spirit. Therefore the question 
of rebaptism is a matter of conscience ; further, 
That a connection with those factions during the 
dark and cloudy day, does not necessarily invalidate 
the priesthood ; holding as we do, that those factions 
could neither confer nor take away the priesthood." 

" Resolved, That any member of this Church 
having been lawfully married, and having put away 
their companions for any other cause than for the. 
cause of fornication, is unworthy of the fellowship 
of the Saints of God; and that the Church be very 
careful, with all enquiry, that they receive none into 
the Church who have put away their companions 
for adultery, they themselves being the offenders." 

This year the mission in Utah revived again 
under its President Thomas Job; the Salt Lake 
Branch was now under the presidency of Elder 
Mark H. Forscutt, who having served his time out 
in the army at Camp Douglass, most of the time 
as secretary of General Connor, had joined the 
Reorganized Church. 

1867. 



The Annual Conference for this year was held at 
Keokuk, Joseph Smith presiding. The statistical 
report showed the total of 52 branches represented 



672 LJFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

with 2210 members; but California, Utah, Canada 
and the European Mission were not represented; 
there was probably not nearly one half of the 
churches represented. The following is an Epistle 
of the Twelve and the Bishopric to the Church : 

"To the Household of Faith in all the World, 
Greeting : 

"Beloved Brethren and Sisters: Grace and 
peace be unto you, from God and our Lord Jesus 
Christ. — -We, as watchmen upon the walls of Zion, 
and Stewards of the Great Master to you-ward; of 
the manifold grace of God toward Zion and her 
converts; address you at the present time concern- 
ing the work and its requirements at the hands of 
all who love the truth, and are willing to labor for 
its triumph, The ministry whom God has appoint- 
ed, the spiritual authorities of the church, are 
expected to be self-sacrificing — to carry the gospel 
to every creature — and we enjoin and beseech all 
who have received missions, presiding authorities 
over districts and branches, to be faithful in the 
discharge of duties, exemplary in word and deed, 
ensamples for the flock whom the Lord has called 
you to 'feed.' The work of setting in order the 
house of God, of redeeming from thralldom the 
victims of false guides, and the carrying of the gos- 
pel to those who have long sat in darkness, is an 
arduous one ; and the widening fields of labor open- 
ing in the Eastern, Middle, and Southern States; 
the great west, including Utah, Idaho, and the 
Pacific Slope; the Canadas, Nova Scotia, and New 
Brunswick, upon this continent, as well as England 
and Wales, and the open doors in Denmark and 
Germany upon the eastern continent, demand an 
increase of laborers; and this demand can not be 
overlooked nor neglected by us. Neither may we 
neglect the poor, for if they cry at all unto God He 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 673 

will hear and succor them by other hands, while 
condemnation will fall upon those whose duty it is 
to minister to them. 

"The reports of elders from every part of the vine- 
yard, show that doors are opened on every side for 
the word to be preached; and the cry from across 
the sea is, 'come over and help us,' and still but 
few comparatively are in the field. ■ Why is this ? 
The reasons are, that most elders have families, who 
look to them, (very properly), for the necessaries of 
life. This is the first duty of every head of a family, 
'and, the Lord holds such responsible for its faithful 
discharge, and while God recognizes this obligation, 
He has imposed another, viz : to travel and preach 
the gospel. Some are required to do this contin- 
ually ; and that they may do so, without neglecting 
their duties to their families, the Lord has com- 
manded a law of consecration and tithing for this 
very purpose, among others, that the hands of those 
bound may be loosed. The Lord has said that 
this is a day of sacrifice and tithing of His people, 
that the day of tithing precedes the day of burnings, 
and a promise is made that those tithed shall not be 
burned. In view of the Law of God upon this sub- 
ject, and of the requirements of the work, and the 
responsibilities resting upon us to 'execute the law 
of tithing,' through much travail of soul and patient 
hearing of reason through words and arguments, 
and prayerful seeking unto the Lord for wisdom 
and for truth, we have unanimously presented our 
exposition of the law in question, in a resolution 
that will accompany this, which we believe is in 
unison with the letter and with the Spirit, as we be- 
lieve we have been led by the Spirit ; and in the 
name of the Lord it shall bear testimony to you 
also. 

"While we regard a tenth as what the Lord 
requires, we also recognize the right and duty of all 

43 



674 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

who tithe themselves to exercise a prayerful watch- 
care over its uses, that all may be done agreeably 
to the will of the Lord. Those who possess nothing 
beyond the needs of their families, can have no 
surplus; and as this is the beginning of the tithing 
required by that law, such can not strictly be regard- 
ed as subjects of the law of tithing. And such as 
have over and above, or a surplus, of them the Lord 
requires this surplus, which the Lord calls a tithing, 
or tenth ; while all may bring their offerings into 
the storehouse of the Lord, from time to time, as 
the Lord gives to them, and in proportion to the 
willingness to do so, will the blessings of Heaven 
descend upon the cheerful giver. 

" It is the duty of Presidents of Branches to 
present this duty, with others, as in its time and 
place equal with any other requirement of the gos- 
pel. And in the absence of a resident Bishop, or 
special agent, it is their duty to act as agents of 
the Bishop in this matter, and send to the Bishop 
such means as are raised in the several branches. 

"The question has been asked, How shall the 
needy in the several branches be relieved? We 
would say, let such be relieved first, when needed, 
out of the tithing, and send the residue to the 
Bishop, or to the treasury of the whole church. 
Tithing and offerings, it is evidently contemplated, 
shall supply every legitimate want of the poor and 
needy ; and therefore it is improper for any to solicit 
means of the members of branches, individually, in 
the name of the church, or as an elder. Brethren, 
we have felt compelled to call your attention to this 
subject, for God has ordained this as one of the 
means to carry forward the great work of building 
up His kingdom, and blessing His children; the 
obligation to obey this law is included in the cov- 
enant . made at baptism; and as you obeyed the 
ordinance of baptism, so do in respect to tithing. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 675 

It is a free will offering. As such, the Lord will 
accept and have respect unto it ; but offered from 
other motives, He will not have respect to the 
offering. Finally, brethren, the work has reached 
a point that requires a more extended and system- 
atic effort to evangelize the world and convert and 
strengthen the brethren. To this work we have 
covenanted with the Lord to give ourselves, and all 
that we possess, of soul, body and spirit. Fulfilling 
this covenant assures the triumph of our faith, and 
prepares us for the seal of our God, giving us a 
right to the tree of life. 

" May the God of all grace bless you, ye Latter 
Day Saints. Peace be unto you. Amen. 

"From your brethren and fellow-laborers in the 
kingdom of our God, in the name of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

"J. W. Briggs, President of the Twelve. 

"I. L. Rogers, Presiding Bishop" 



"We, the Quorum of the Twelve, in view of the 
wants of the cause in which we are engaged, after 
careful, protracted and prayerful deliberation touch- 
ing the same, and the law under which such wants 
can only be supplied, and to answer our consciences 
towards God, and towards the Church, have adopted 
the following resolution : 

'"Resolved, That we regard the law of consecration and 
tithing, as a means o£ fully establishing equality among the 
saints in the building up of Zion, as the kingdom of God, to the 
which we look for the coming of the Lord Jesus, to reign a 
thousand years upon the earth. But the scattered condition of 
the Church precludes the carrying out of the law in its fullness. 
Yet the present necessities of the 'work do require a portion of 
tithing and consecrations, and we believe that the tithing now 
required, is one tenth of the properties of all who possess a 
surplus, afterward, one tenth of their annual interest annually. — 
Others not having more than supplies their necessities, are ex- 



676 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

pected to bring their free will offerings, as the widow brought 
her mite. 

" 'By order of the Quorum of Twelve. 

"'JASON W. BRIGGS, President. 

"'Nauvoo, April 8, 1867.'" 

The following manifesto from the spiritual author- 
ities of the Church, signed by its President, upon 
marriage and its relations is an invaluable document 
for Church history : 

" At a Council meeting of some of the general 
authorities of the Church, held at Nauvoo, Illinois, 
April 3, 4, 5, 1867, the following resolutions were 
passed : 

'"Resolved, That any official member of the church who 
shall, in public or private, endorse, teach, or encourage, either 
directly or indirectly, the doctrines of polygamy, spiritual wifery, 
or marrying for eternity, should be silenced ; and if he does not 
repent of the evil, he should be cut off. 

'"Resolved, That, whereas too great laxity in the observance 
of the marriage relation amongst the saints, is calculated to 
result in the destruction of the honor and sancity of that relation ; 
therefore it is the opinion of this Council that the spiritual 
authorities of the church should seek to inculcate by precept, 
also by example, the sancity of the marital relation m all holi- 
ness and virtue ; and that nothing less than the strict observance 
of the covenant of marriage is becoming the character of Latter 
Day Saints.' 

" While we can not, as an ecclesiastical body, 
declare a rule binding the conscience or controling 
the belief, we can advise the erring, declare against 
doctrine manifestly subversive of the general faith 
of the church, and may regulate, the conduct of per- 
sons toward the body; therefore 

'"Resolved, That a persistent belief in the doctrines of poly- 
gamy, sealing, (marrying for eternity), or spiritual wifery, shall 
be considered as heretical; and the persons so holding to such 
doctrines, subject themselves to suspicion of apostasy; and such 
persons, if found advocating those, or any of those doctrines, 
should be labored with; and if they refuse to conform to the 
rules prescribed by the body respecting the teaching or advocat- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 677 

ing heresy, publicly or privately, they are in danger of the 
council, as not being in possession of the Spirit of God. 

"'Resolved, That public meetings are not the proper places 
for accusation, slander, or depreciation of the character of a 
brother or sister; also, that one so offending should receive a 
just rebuke.. 

"'Resolved, That persons married, who become so estranged 
in feeling one toward another, that they can neither live togeth- 
er amicably, nor separate without scandal falling upon the 
church, can not be retained in full fellowship, without endanger- 
ing the public j^urity of the body. 

"'Resolved, That no authority is resident in the church to 
grant any species of letters of divorcement whatever, whereby 
persons duly married are justified in separating and disregarding 
the covenant of marriage, and persons so separating, are in dis- 
obedience to the spirit of public purity enjoined upon the church. 
Branch organizations acting contrary to this are subject to be 
called to an account for the same, as we believe such acts to be 
illegal. 

'"Resolved, That it is the right of a General Conference to 
appoint the presiding officers of Districts. 

"'JOSEPH SMITH, President, 
• "'Mark H. Forscutt, Clerk.'" 



The October General Conference of the Church 
was held at Union Grove, Harrison County, Iowa, 
October 6, 7, 8. The following descriptive close of 
the Minutes will supply the historical illustration of 
the time: 

The Conference was well attended by the Saints, 
and everything passed off without a single jar. 
Greater unanimity of feeling and concert of action 
has never probably obtained than from its opening 
to its close. The words of inspiration flowed, the 
Spirit of God was manifested and the heart of every 
Saint present made to rejoice in the hope of the 
glory of God. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday 
evenings, prayer meetings were held, and on the two 
latter nights, the gifts of the gospel manifested in 
tongues, interpretations, prophecies, &c. On Mon- 



678 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHF.T. 

day night the President of the meeting called for 
the sick to come forth, and having appointed Elders 
Forscutt, Elvin, Putney, Craven and Kelley to 
administer, some twenty-eight were administered 
to, and many blessings conferred. The hearts of 
the Saints leaped within them for joy, and God 
verified his word, proving Himself to be the God of 
the Saints by his power, as He proved himself the 
God of Israel of old. To Him be glory, now, hence- 
forth and forever, through Jesus His well beloved 
Son, our adorable Master. Amen. 

Joseph Smith, President, 

Mark H. Forscutt, ) n} , 
Wm. H. Kelley, ^^rks. 

The Semi-Annual Report of the California mis- 
sion, showed — Districts 2 ; Branches 9 ; Members 
417: San Bernardino, the settlement founded by 
the Mormons, numbered 204 "Josephites." 



1868 



The Annual General Conference of the Church 
was held this year at Piano, April 6, 7, 8, 9. 

Alexander H. Smith in reporting the California 
Mission and the labors of himself and companion, 
Elder Anderson, for the last two years, said he 
knew of no field of labor so wide, and affording so 
many opportunities for faithful and effectual labor- 
ers. The work in California, Nevada and Oregon 
demands a faithful and experienced man. 

Elder Wm. W. Blair of the Twelve Apostles was 
given the charge of the missions of California, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 679 

Nevada, Oregon, Montana, and Utah, to be assisted 
by Alexander H. Smith. 

At length Apostles Josiah Ells and Jason W. 
Briggs had arrived in Great Britain. Elder Briggs 
took for his ministerial field Wales and adjoining 
counties, and Elder Ells the midland counties 
Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and 
Sheffield. The lono- delav of the missionaries had 
dispirited the Saints in the old country, but after 
their arrival the work began to revive again. A 
General Conference of the European Mission was 
held in Birmingham, England, September 6th, 7th, 
1868, at which a number of Elders were called in 
to the field and Presidents appointed over the Dis- 
tricts of Wales, Birmingham and Nottingham, and 
laborers appointed for Gloucestershire, London, 
Sheffield, Stafford, Manchester and Pelsall. It was 
also 

" Resolved, That this conference deem it essen- 
tial for the propagation of the faith of the Latter- 
day work in the British Isles, by the Reorganized 
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that a 
periodical be published, setting forth our doctrines 
and our faith, in contradistinction from the cor- 
ruptions and abominations taught in the pretended 
revelations respecting polygamy, and other kindred 
doctrines."' 

The Semi-Annual Conference of the church was 
held this year near Council Bluffs, Joseph Smith 
presiding. 

The work abroad was reported by the President 
as being in a prospering condition. In California, 
Oregon, Massachusetts, Tennessee and the South- 



680 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

ern States, it was moving gradually onward ; and 
from Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland, came the 
Macedonian cry, " Come over and help us!" 



1869* 



The Annual Conference of this year was held at 
St. Louis from the 6th to nth of April. 

Alexander H. and David H. Smith were, upon 
resolution, associated in a mission to Utah and the 
Pacific slope. 

The Annual Conference of the Church on the 
Pacific Slope was held in Sacramento under the 
presidency of W. W. Blair. 

In the August number of the Herald the Editor 
says, " From every quarter now comes the cheering 
news that the gospel is winning its way." 

The following unique letter from Alexander H. 
Smith giving his interview with Brigham is too rich 
in its historical interest and suggestiveness to be 
denied immortality in Church literature: 

"Salt Lake City, July 18, 1869. 

" I have had many trials in my short life, of my 
powers of control over my passionate temper; but 
never in my short life did I have need of strength 
more than I did yesterday. 

" David gave you an account of our trip and arriv- 
al. We met many who were anxious to see us, and 
hear us; and asked us if we were going to $peak in 
the tabernacle. We of course did not know, but 
were desirous of so doing; and to leave no stone 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 68 1 

unturned in our favor, David, myself, John Smith, 
Saml. Smith, Geo. A. Smith, and John Henry Smith, 
(Geo. As. son,) called on President Young yester- 
day morning, and I plainly stated our mission, and 
asked for the use of the Tabernacle to speak to this 
people. 

" My statement that we differed from them in 
principles and points of doctrine, called forth some 
questions, all of which I endeavored to answer in 
calmness, with respect and courtesy to all present. 
Pres. Young then favored us with an account of how 
the marriage ceremony became inserted in the Book 
of Covenants, directly in opposition to all father 
could say on the matter. I told him we did not 
come to argue the matter there ; that our reasons 
for differing were many — and among them, the fact 
that the principle he was endeavoring to sustain was 
contrary to all the former revelations of God, and 
that, in this view of the matter, we could not accept 
the testimony of any man or set of men, that came 
in opposition to God's holy words in the Book of 
Covenants and Book of Mormon. 

" Brigham then took me to task about what I had 
said in the garden three years ago, and denied that 
the Twelve ever did anything to embarrass mother 
in any way; but, to the contrary, that they had done 
everything in their power to help her in her time of 
trouble. I, of course, differed with him, and told 
him so ; and then he called mother ' a liar, yes, the 
damnedest liar that lives;' said that she tried to 
poison father, that she stole Uncle Hyrum's portrait 
and large ring. 

" He also said manv other things, too numerous to 
mention. I can not write all that was said. Geo. 
Q. Cannon, John Taylor, Joseph F. Smith, Daniel 
Wells, Joseph Young, Phineas Young, Brigham 
Young, Jun., and several others, besides those who 
went with us, were present at the interview. At 



682 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the close, Young shook hands with us, and wished 
us God's blessing in all righteous and good works, 
positively refusing to let us have the use of the 
Tabernacle. 

" He said we had not the spirit of our father; but 
we possessed the spirit of our mother — that we had 
not God enough to make us a name, or to bring 
upon us any persecution. We told him that as to 
the persecution, we were thankful we had none 
seriously ; as to the name, time that was said to 
prove all things, would prove whether this were so 
or not. 

"After our interview, we returned to Johns and I 
vented my anger in biting my food and swallowing 
it ; but was nervous all the rest of the day, — per- 
haps from indigestion, as it did not sit well on my 
stomach. 

" Yesterday we went to see, and made the acquain- 
tance of, the Governor of Utah; reported our 
mission to him, and desired the territorial authorities 
to take cognizance of our presence. We had a very 
pleasant visit with Gov. Durkee. 

" After this visit, we made the acquaintance of the 
Walker Bros., thought to be the richest firm in the 
city, who treated us with great kindness, and prom- 
ised to secure a hall for us. We also had quite a 
long conversation with Mr. Stenhouse. 

"And now let me say, in leaving the presence of 
Mr. Young, I took the responsibility of asking him 
or any of his Elders to call on you in their tours 
eastward, and guaranteed they would have extended 
to them the courtesy of the meeting-house, by ask- 
ing for it, and I gave a special request for Brigham 
Young, from you, to call and preach in our meeting- 
house. 

"July 21. — David and I have fairly entered on 
our mission, and everywhere we go we are received 
in kindness. We make it a distinctive feature of 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 683 

our converse to establish the object of our mission, 
except at the house of cousin Joseph, and there 
the subject of religion has not been broached at all, 
in our presence. 

" The show for the saints to remain here is very 
slim, I assure you. 

" We are indebted to the Walker Brothers for 
assistance in procuring Independence Hall. We 
speak there next Sunday at 2 p.m. 

'' We spoke in a private house last Sunday after- 
noon, and the house was crowded, inside and out. 
There is a good feeling among our people here 
now, and more freedom of speech than there was 
three years ago. * * * 

" Brigham is failing in wisdom and power, and 
begins to look old. He did us a good turn in 
refusing to let us have the Tabernacle ; we do not 
want it now. God is blessing us, and working in 
our favor. 

"Give our love to all. Remember us in prayer. 

"Alexander H. Smith." 

A paragraph from David's journal must accom- 
pany the above. 

" We have visited the civil authorities, and as 
many friends and acquaintances in the city as we 
have had time to do, and through the kindness of 
the Walker Brothers, influential merchants in the 
city, have obtained Independence Hall, and held 
three meetings therein, having the house full to 
overflowing. Yesterday, being Sunday, Alexander 
was examining some of the principles advocated 
here, when he was interrupted by our cousin Joseph 
F. Smith, who demanded that Alexander should 
read the whole of a letter he was quoting, from the 
Times and Seasons. Alexander stated his displeas- 
ure at his meeting being interrupted, when the 



684 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

interruption was continued. This exasperated the 
people so that they cried out, 'Shame!' 'Put him 
out!' 'Silence!' Silence being restored, Alexander 
continued his remarks, stating that we had been 
refused the Tabernacle, and that now he regretted 
sadly that Joseph F. Smith should be the one 
selected to attend our meetings and oppose us, but 
that our determination is to hold meetings without 
interruption, if possible, and treat upon whatever 
principle we chose to examine. This so delighted 
the people that they broke out with thunders of 
applause. Silence again being restored, he finished 
his discourse, giving polygamy a thorough disap- 
proval. We sang ' Let us shake off the coals from 
our garments,' and were dismissed. Alexander 
attended a meeting of the branch, while Bro. Brand 
and myself repaired to the water, and I was permit- 
ted to baptize eight souls from the Brighamite 
church into the Reorganization. God has blessed 
us greatly. May praise and glory be to His holy 
name." 

The Semi-Annual Conference of this year was 
held at Galland's Grove. 

At about this date occured the Utah schism, 
under the leadership of Godbe, Harrison, Shearman, 
Lawrence, Kelsey and'Tullidge. In the December 
numbers of the Saints' Herald was published "An 
Appeal to the People" of Utah, accompanied with a 
"Protest" from Godbe and Harrison, copied from 
the Utah Magazine. The President of the Reor- 
ganized Church commenting upon the "issue" 
wrote thus: 

"We can not rejoice in schism, nor in the array- 
ing of brethren in spiritual controversy, one against 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 685 

another ; but having understood that the gospel 
was for the elevation of man, for the opposing and 
suppressing of evil and falsehood; for the upbuild- 
ing of right and true principles, which honorable 
men, seeking for life eternal, may advocate, sustain 
and abide by; and to which the outcast and depraved 
may seek for deliverance from their depravity and 
alienation from God, we can but hail with gladness 
the evidences daily accruing, of an early return to 
right ways of thinking, when men will, in their de- 
sires for the advancement of the cause of God, dare 
to counsel together freely and fairly, without fear of 
censure or hate, or the exercise upon them of 
arbitrary power, wielded by their fellow men. 

"We shall note with great interest the result of 
the struggle now going on in Utah; and if Messrs 
Harrison, Godbe and Kelsey, will permit us, with- 
out ascribing unto us any desire to widen the breach 
between Brigham Young and themselves, we offer 
them our congratulations upon the manly stand 
they have taken in defense of God-given human 
right. 



CHAPTER LII. 

THE UTAH " SCHISM " MR. GODBE AND HIS COM- 
PEERS A MORMON REFORMATION IN THE NAME 

OF JOSEPH THE REBELS BEFORE THE SCHOOL 

OF THE PROPHETS THEIR TRIAL BEFORE THE 

HIGH COUNCIL THE " NEW MOVEMENT " BEGUN 

ITS MORMON MISSION DESTROYED BY SPIRIT- 
UALISM. 

Elder Stenhouse in his "Rocky Mountain Saints" 
connects the "schism" with two prime causes — one 
being the attempt of President Young to establish 
in Utah a commercial commune controlled abso- 
lutely by himself, and the other the attempt of 
certain Elders to establish an independent press 
power which in the very genius of the two were in 
direct antagonism. Passing- from the view of PreS- 
ident Young's co-operative movement, he says : 



"Another and an unlooked for phase of Mormon 
experience was soon to demand public attention. 
Two elders were trying to establish a literary paper 
— The Utah Magazine. The proprietors were W. 
S. Godbe and E. L. T. Harrison ; the latter was the 
Editor. Elder Harrison had essayed, once before, 
with his- friend Edward W. Tullidge, to make » 
literature a profession among the Saints, and had 
established the Peep d Day ; but they met with in- 
surmountable difficulties, and the paper stopped." 






LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 687 

But there was something more radical in the first 
effort for a free press than even Mr. Stenhouse 
fully knew. It was not a mere effort of Harrison 
and Tullidge "to make literature a profession." 
Substantially the schism was designed as early as 
1864, and the title of the magazine — The Peep d 
Day, and the fact that it was published at Camp 
Douglas show the signs. Had it been possible at 
that early day a temperate revolution would have 
been developed by the combination of the editors 
with the independent commercial men of the city, 
and this would have ran side by side with the 
"Josephite" mission. Indeed, a conversation with 
Edmund C. Briggs actually gave the impulse to the 
starting of the Peep d Day at that moment. 

Tullidge was always .known as a Joseph worship- 
per. In an artistic point of view this was pardon- 
able in one who had partly written and published 
an epic poem entitled " The Prophet of the Nine- 
teenth Century." But he had now resolved to join 
in covenant with the Reorganized Church: this 
was hindered by a dream. A personage came to 
him, as often before, who was ever " Joseph the 
Prophet." This personage told him not to join the 
missionaries at that time, saying, " It is all right 
Edward; you will be with Joseph when he comes." 
In the meantime " Edward" was directed to urge 
his friend "Elias'' and with him at an opportune 
moment to start a paper, and ''prepare the way;'' 
and he was positively told that "when Joseph 
comes" there will be "a day of God's power" 
among the Saints in Utah. It was enough; the 
time was fixed ! 



688 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

There were, however, friendly intercourses be- 
tween Elders Briggs and Tullidge at the house of 
brother David Putney ; but when Elder Briggs 
spoke of "you Brighamites," there invariably fol- 
lowed an indignant protest. So on a certain 
occasion thus : 

"I am no Brighamite, sir ; I am a Josephite as 
much as you are; I have loved Joseph the Prophet 
as much as you have loved him ; I shall be with his 
son Joseph when he comes." 

" O yes," replied Elder Briggs, caustically, " you'll 
enlist under the banner when the battle is won." 

They parted in brotherhood, for their animus 
was without malice, but Tullidge was grieved over 
the terrible crossings of love between the " children 
of Zion." 

The same day Harrison and Tullidge resolved to 
start their paper, breaking up their business for 
that purpose. They immediately went and laid 
their project before Mr. John Chislett, and Mr. 
Fred and Sharp Walker. The Walkers met the 
proposition at once with sagacity and munificence, 
offering to bear all the expenses of a three months' 
issue of 4000 of a weekly magazine to be circulated 
throughout the Territory. The Jew Kahn also 
gave a hundred dollars and Mr. Chislett nobly re- 
sponded and was the instrument in working up the 
movement. Thus it may be seen that a social rev- 
olution was attempted in 1864. That is exactly 
what these merchants meant; they cared nothing 
about two Elders "making literature a profession 
among the Saints;" they wanted the backbone of 
priestly despotism broken. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 689 

It was resolved to start the Peep d Day at Camp 
Douglas; and a contract was made with General 
Connor, who had sent east for a quantity of paper, 
new type and a larger press for the Vedette office ; 
hence a delay. In the meantime paper had gone 
up at a fearful rate, the cost of freight alone being 
thirty cents per pound across the plains. There 
was a paper panic in America. In Utah even the 
Deseret News had to suspend ; but the Peep d Day 
ran for awhile at a cost to the Walkers alone of 
quite two thousand dollars. Had the editors how- 
ever waited the " due time of the Lord," and start- 
ed an independent newspaper devoted to a genuine 
Mormon reformation — substantially a " Josephite" 
paper — with the Walkers and Gentile merchants 
at the back supporting it, there would have been 
five hundred "Josephites" in the Territory at its 
start, and no need then for their " flight " to Cali- 
fornia and the States. 

Four years had passed ; the railroad was nearly 
completed ; the nation was upon the borders of 
polygamic theocracy; Brigham was madly trying to 
melt the invading powers of civilization by his com- 
mercial commune ; the " Gentile " merchants were 
in consternation. At such a crisis Godbe and 
Harrison took a trip east, leaving the Utah Maga- 
zine to the editorial care of Tullidge. Mr. Sten- 
house thus describes their case : 

" On the way they compared notes respecting the 
situation of things at home, and spoke frankly 
together of their doubts and difficulties with the 
faith. * * * One proposition followed another, 
and scheme after scheme was the subject of discus- 

44 



69O LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

sion, but not one of those schemes or propositions, 
when examined, appeared desirable; they were in 
terrible mental anguish. Arriving in New York 
and comfortable in their hotel, in the evening they 
concluded to pray for guidance. * * * They 
claim that while they knelt and earnestly prayed, a 
voice spoke to them and made some communication 
upon the subject which most interested them. 
They were astonished, and bewildered, but instantly 
were calmed and self-possessed. For three weeks, 
while, during the day, Mr. Godbe was purchasing 
goods in the busy marts of commerce, Mr. Harrison 
was sitting quietly in the hotel, preparing a series 
of questions upon every subject of religion and 
philosophy that he could think of, and in the even- 
ing by appointment, a band of spirits came to them 
and held converse with them, as friends would speak 
with friends. One by one the questions prepared 
by Mr. Harrison were read, and Mr. Godbe and Mr. 
Harrison, with pencil and paper, took down the 
answers as they heard them given by the spirits. 
" They returned to Utah, and to a very small 
circle of friends confided what has here been only 
very briefly related, and their story was listened to. 
Elder Eli B. Kelsey, a Mormon of twenty-seven 
years' standing, and who was also a president of 
Seventies, was the intimate friend of Mr. Godbe, 
and Elder Edward W. Tullidge, another Seventy, 
was the bosom friend of Mr. Harrison. Believing 
that Brigham had set out to build up a dynasty of 
his own, and that he looked upon the people as his 
heritage, these four Elders resolved to sap the 
foundations of his throne, and to place before the 
people the best intelligence they could command to 
enable them to realize their true position. Elder 
Henry W. Lawrence, a w r ealthy merchant, a bishop's 
counselor, and a gentleman of the highest integrity, 
was early informed in confidence of this New Move- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 69 1 

ment, and to his friend, Mr. Godbe, gave valuable 
material support. The Magazine, that had before 
this been hasting to an end, took a new lease of life, 
and became a brilliant, well conducted paper. * * * 

"These two Elders — Godbe and Harrison — with 
their immediate friends who have been named, and 
a few brave women of spotless character, were ready 
to walk into the jaws of death, if it were necessary, 
in order to succeed in scattering that gigantic power 
that was crushing the manhood out of the people. 
This little band did not number altogether a dozen 
persons, and what they knew, and the design among 
themselves, were matters secretly kept within their 
own bosoms. 

" Some very pungent articles had been published 
in the Magazine, that had awakened attention, and 
in some measure they had foreshadowed a purpose 
on the part of the writers to judge of the teachings 
and measures of Brigham Young as they would 
those of any other man ; but of the true nature of 
the movement they were inaugurating, nothing had 
been fairly stated. The writers at first only aimed 
to provoke the people to thinking. 

" Vice President Colfax and his party made their 
second visit to Utah at this juncture. On the 
evening before his departure, he made a temperate, 
yet firm speech, from a platform in front of his 
hotel, reviewing the situation of the Mormons 
towards the General Government, and especially in 
their preserving the institution of polygamy against 
the law of Congress. 

" The Vice President and his friends were made 
acquainted with the forthcoming opposition from 
members of the Church, and took much interest in 
the ' Movement,' believing as they did that the one- 
man-power and the infallibility of priesthood had 
seen their day." 



692 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Mr. Stenhouse in his book fails to emphasize a 
fact well known to him — that this was all done in 
the name of the Prophet Joseph and that it was 
believed by the Elders who were thus preparing 
the way that Utah would be redeemed under the 
leadership of "young Joseph." During a period of 
six months this revolution was in active prepar- 
ation, and by reference to dates it will further 
appear that quite twelve months intervened be- 
tween Godbe and Harrison's experience at New 
York and the summons of the " rebels " before the 
"School of the Prophets." All the dreams of that 
period above the work of preparation was of the 
grand advent of Joseph II. Sometimes it was 
thought that Providence would bring him up to the 
mountains to lead us at the very beginning of our 
movement. This was our dearest hope; for, with 
Joseph as our leader, success was certain; hence 
the slowness of our steps and the carefulness of our 
preparation. And there was a very sound judg- 
ment taken of the character of "young Joseph " in 
one respect at least: it was that "the Heavens" 
must speak to himself, — that we had no power of 
our own to move him, and therefore we sought him 
not, but waited his coming. 

Without the name of the Prophet Joseph inspir- 
ing, and the prospective leadership of his son, the 
" New Movement " would not have grown even to 
the proportions of that "little band" not number- 
ing "altogether a dozen persons" who gave it birth. ^ 

Mr. Godbe possessed a social and commercial 
potency, it is true, but for a religious leadership, 
nothing in himself; and Elias Harrison was power- 






LIFE OF JOSEPH 1HE PROPHET. 693 

ful as a Mormon Elder acting in Joseph's name, 
but a Samson shorn of his locks the moment he 
threw off his Mormon Eldership. As for Mr. Sten- 
house and his noble wife, it was Tullidge, and not 
Harrison or Godbe who converted them to the 
cause, and that meant altogether Joseph Smith and 
pure Mormonism. Well does the author remem- 
ber the words of that noble, heroic woman, to him- 
self and her husband when she resolved " to walk 
into the jaws of death" with us "if it were neces- 
sary." — "Let us trust in Providence, and stand by 
the truth, though it should take the home from 
over the heads of ourselves and children !" These 
were the words of Mrs. Fannie Stenhouse to her 
husband, and he said, "Amen," to her. She paid 
the sacrifice: it took that home from them. Never 
did Stenhouse act more nobly in all his life. And 
this meant the Lord ,and pure Mormonism. That 
New York "band of spirits" kept out of sight to 
all but Godbe and Harrison. How often did Sten- 
house say to me — " Ed, why don't the Lord speak 
to me as well as to Godbe and Harrison?" The 
fact was that Stenhouse at that time possessed the 
real Mormon faith and believed that the Lord 
could speak to his Elders without the permission of 
the Chief Priest. It was not Spiritualism to these 
disciples when they said, Lord, we are "ready to 
walk into the jaws of death," if it be necessary, to. 
redeem thy Israel ; that is Christian heroism — that 
is golden Mormonism. When Spiritualism came 
in, then came betrayal ! But to the story of those 
times. 

The reform movement had fairly begun. Its 



694 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

leaders were ready to be excommunicated and 
anathematized by their pope; but their aim was to 
let the wrong-doing be clearly on his side. At 
length came their agitation of the subject of the 
mineral resources of Utah. The people were 
urged to develop the inexhaustible wealth which 
Nature herself had stored for them in the moun- 
tains and canons every where. The President now 
saw something of the reformers. Men were arising 
who sought to lead the people through the power 
of the press. On the afternoon of the day on 
which the article entitled " The True Development 
of the Territory " was published, Brigham, in the 
School of the Prophets, was furious. The names 
of Godbe, Harrison, Tullidge, Stenhouse and three 
others — not "rebels" — were called, and, as all these 
gentlemen were absent, Brigham, in his anger, mov- 
ed that they all be disfellowshipped from the 
Church, and the following brief notification was 
sent to each : 

Salt Lake City, October 16, 1869. 
Dear Brother: — I hereby inform you that a 
motion was made, seconded, and carried by a unan- 
imous vote of the School of the Prophets to-day, 
that you be disfellowshipped from the Church until 
you appear in the School and give satisfactory 
reasons for your irregular attendance there. 
Your brother in the gospel, 

George Goddard, Secretary. 

There was a great sensation in the city. The 
Gentiles were deeply interested. Nothing before 
had occurred in Utah to so stir them toward a 
common cause. An oreanized movement from the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 695 

Elders was what the Gentiles most desired to see 
arrayed against the Utah hierarchy. That ni^ht 
might haye been seen in the Gentile stores groups 
of men in earnest conyersation touching the signs 
of the times and the new situation. 

At the School of the Prophets, on the next 
Saturday, the rebels were at the bar. The presi- 
dent, however, had somewhat revised himself. He 
designed, if possible, only to take action against 
Godbe and Harrison. To raise up a party of the 
chief men of the press and of commerce, he saw, 
upon reflection, was too serious an undertaking. 
The first hour of the trial before the School of the 
Prophets was exhausted by the president's man- 
euvres to exclude from trial two of his good, but 
erring servants, that they might "testify" and weep, 
as they did, for having spoken against co-operation. 
They were patted on the back, and restored to 
grace. There was management and comedy in 
this; and the Elders were fitly chosen, for one of 
them was the best comedian of Brigham's theatre, 
the other the costumer. Xext came T. B. H. Sten- 
house, who had designed to proclaim the rebellion. 
But the president was playing the fox, not the lion, 
that day. Stenhouse was the father-in-law of Brig- 
ham's eldest son, and the wily chief made the griev- 
ance between them a family matter of a most 
trivial character, to the infinite chagrin of Sten- 
house who thus lost immortality. At last Bri^ham 
came to his rivals ; W. S. Godbe was the first called. 
Modestly, but firmly, he took the speaker's stand, 
and awaited the questions from Apostle YVoodruft 
upon which he and his compeer were to be tried. 



696 LTFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

The first embodied all the rest — " Do you believe 
that President Young has the right to dictate to 
you in all things temporal and spiritual ?" 

The question drew a speech from Mr. Godbe to 
several thousand assembled Elders. He did not 
believe in the extraordinary right claimed for Pres- 
ident Young; deemed it wise in commerce to be 
guided by commercial experience and the circum- 
stances of the case; had till then followed the pres- 
ident in his mercantile schemes, often against his 
own judgment, and he instanced the failures. 
Touching theology, he said that " the light of God 
in each individual soul was the proper guide in the 
life of every rightly cultured man, and not the 
intelligence of one human mind dictating for all 
God's creatures." 

The President then arose, and let loose his 
matchless tongue of ridicule, He mimicked the 
man of sentiment who had preached "another gos- 
pel " to the School of the Prophets than that which 
it was accustomed to hear. The Utah Magazine 
he denounced as a snake in the grass, which he 
would now destroy; for it was more dangerous 
than all the papers which the Gentiles had publish- 
ed in Utah to destroy the priesthood. 

There was a sensation when the president sat 
down, and Elder Elias Harrison arose and took the 
stand. Instead of addressing the audience, he turn- 
ed boldly to the judge himself, and protested 
against him and his rule in a voice which thunder-, 
ed through the School. The Apostles and Elders 
were wrathful ; but Brieham hastened to hand the 
case over to the High Council for private trial, and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 697 

took a vote to discontinue the reading of the Utah 
Magazine. This brought Henry Lawrence out 
with his protest, and the statement that he should 
maintain the freedom of the press. The affair was 
becoming every moment more serious, for Law- 
rence was one of Brigham's pillars in commerce 
and in the city government. 

The trial before the High Council came on the 
following Wednesday morning. None were allow- 
ed in the court room but those who brought with 
them the permit of President Young. Harrison 
and Godbe did not permit the case to take the 
form of a trial, but made the circumstance their 
opportunity to declare their mission before the 
High Council, and read a series of resolutions for a 
reform movement. Clearly nothing remained for 
the High Council to do but to excommunicate 
these men of a rival mission ; and at a word from 
President Young, Eli B. Kelsey was added to their 
number and cut off without the form of a trial. 

On the following Saturday the Utah Magazine 
appeared with manifestoes from the protestant 
Elders, which were republished in most of the 
leading papers in America. The reform leaders 
hastened also .to take the platform, which they were 
prepared to do in a few weeks. The Thirteenth 
Ward assembly-rooms were applied for to inaugur- 
ate the reformation. Mr. Godbe owned three or 
four thousand dollars worth of stock in the prop- 
erty, but Bishop Woolley dared not grant the 
chapel without first consulting President Young: 
the chapel was granted. 

Sunday, December 19, 1869, was an eventful day 



69S LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

in the history of Utah. An hour before the time 
the people began to gather, and by eleven o'clock 
the large assembly-rooms were filled and the door- 
way crowded. The service of the day opened by 
the choir singing the famous hymn of Parley P. 
Pratt : 

"The morning breaks, the shadows flee, 

Lol Zion's standard is unfurled; 
The dawning of a brighter day 

Majestic rises on the world. 1 ' 

It is the first hymn in the old Mormon hymn 
book, and has been sung thousands of times at 
home and abroad, but on this eventful morning it 
had a new meaning. The people sang it with the 
heart and with the understanding ; and even the 
Gentiles, who formed one-third of the audience 
evidently liked the theme. Then came the speech- 
es of Godbe and Harrison, reviewing the past and 
declaring their mission and "call from the heavens 
to arise and redeem the people of Zion from their 
bondage." 

In the evening the Utah protestant Mormons 
met in Mason Hall, which was literally packed, and 
yet not more than two-thirds of those who came 
could get inside of the door. All were impressed 
by the results of the day that the "schism" was a 
great fact, and that henceforth in Utah there would 
be a public platform and a public voice. 

For a time this reform movement anions the 
Mormon Elders was crowned with success, and it 
bid fair to spread over the Territory, and this 
it would undoubtedly have done had it continued a 
pure Mormon reform with Joseph the Martyr as 
the Prophet of the new "church of Zion;" but from 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 699 

the moment that Mr. Harrison introduced his 
"band of spirits" from New York, and laid aside 
the simple garb of a Mormon Elder, that moment 
he lost the potency of a mission, which can never 
live after the death of its own integrity. The rev- 
elations that Messrs. Godbe and Harrison read to 
the " little band " of earnest disciples were profess- 
edly from Jesus, the Apostle James and Joseph 
Smith, i.e., Jesus and two of his ministering ser- 
vants. This seemed to them Mormon enough in 
type. Then the new organization took the name 
of the Church of Zion, with Godbe and Harrison 
" Counselors " to a coming head, understood to be 
Joseph the son of Joseph, with a quorum of 
Twelve, High Priests, Seventies, a stake of Zion 
with its President and two counselors,' a Bishop, 
and Henry Lawrence as Trustee-in-Trust of the 
Church. It is true th # ere were but two Apostles 
chosen — Kelsey and Shearman — and merely an 
attempt was made to organize priesthood, this 
being in the design left open till the "coming of 
Joseph" our leader. It would be contemptibly 
weak for the brethren concerned to affect forgetful- 
ness when they were Mormon-dressed from crown 
to sole with the Melchisedec and Levitical priest- 
hoods, with Mormon methods ranging from the 
tithing system to testimony meetings. Moreover 
it was the Mormon part that succeeded and all that 
imported from modern Spiritualism came to profit- 
less birth, and died amid general contempt. Joseph 
Smith was a power in Zion ! Aside from his name 
there was nothing in this " New Movement " better 
than a will o' the wisp. 



CHAPTER LIIL 

MISSION IN CALIFORNIA CONGRESS MEMORIALIZED 

THE NEW MOVEMENT IN UTAH CHURCH OF 

ZION THE COMING MAN DEATH OF WILLIAM 

to ARKS ELDER FORSCUTT APPOINTED TO. ENG- 
LAND NEW REVELATION ON ORGANIZATION 

CHALLENGE TO* ELDERS O. PRATT AND D. H. 
WELLS THE MESSENGER DEATH OF C. W. WAN- 
DELL IN AUSTRALIA J. SMITH IN UTAH WM. 

SMITH UNITES WITH THE CHURCH DEATH OF 

EMMA. 



1 870. 



The brothers, Alexander and David Smith, had 
taken their departure from Salt Lake City for Cal- 
ifornia, when the year 1870 opened with its stirring 
events in Utah. In his journal, David thus wrote 
of his farewell. : 

" Time and space would fail us to mention the 
acts of generous friendship and hospitality enjoyed 
by us, or mention the pleasant names of those dis- 
playing that generosity belonging to the Reorgan- 
ization. Not alone to these were we deeply 
indebted, but to very many of the Gentiles of noble 
character, we must express thanks, for procuring a 
hall, for assisting in many respects, for liberal marks 
of courtesy and Christianity. Many also of the Jew- 
ish merchants showed sreat kindness towards us, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 701 

and when praying for the peace of Jerusalem, we 
shall ever remember them with pleasure. There 
were some noble examples, also wherein Brigham- 
ites displayed towards us that kindness, liberal- 
mindedness and toleration —nay, even brotherly 
regard, that should be observed between man 
and man however marked their difference of faith." 

Elders Blair and Brand continued the work in 
Salt Lake City. In March Alexander and David 
Smith returned from their western mission. Josiah 
Ells of the Twelve reported his return from 
England, and said, " I am pleased to record that 
the work of God respecting His Church and king- 
dom is beginning to brighten in its prospects in the 
British Isles. The fact is now to some extent 
understood in that land, that it does not follow 
because a person claims to be a Latter-day Saint, 
that he is therefore a believer in the doctrine 
of polygamy." 

The Annual Conference of this year was held at 
Piano. There were present of the First Presidency, 
Joseph Smith and William Marks; of the Twelve, 
Josiah Ells, Z. H. Gurley, W. W. Blair, and E. C. 
Briggs. The President of the Church in his open- 
ing address to the Conference of Elders said : 

" As we are prepared to show that that which has 
brought so much reproach upon the cause has not 
proceeded from, nor been cherished by our organ- 
ization, therefore the labor in California and Utah 
should, if possible, be more important than others, 
that the true cause of Christ may be faithfully and 
plainly presented to those who are in error. The 
Canada and Southe-rn missions should be attended 






702 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

to, and the financial condition of Church affairs 
should be placed upon a firmer basis, in order that 
the accomplishment of the work may be more surely 
and systematically done. He also suggested that a 
memorial be sent to Congress, in order to establish 
before the courts of justice the legal point of dis- 
tinction between ourselves and the followers of 
Brigham Young. He did not do this that we may 
attain any honor or distinction before the people, 
for this would be contrary to the eventful truth 
stated by Christ, but to get the truth before those 
who may desire to know the distinction. A still 
further reason is that old Latter-day Saints need to 
be convinced that we are truly endeavoring to 
establish righteousness and not laboring for self- 
aggrandizement. When this is done many who 
now hold aloof will come forth heart and hand to 
the redemption of Zion." 

Elder Josiah Ells reported the English mission. 
He said that in England he had large audiences 
always, and the mission was far from being a fail- 
ure, though present results may seem small. Faith- 
ful men should continue the mission. 

Elder W. W. Blair gave an outline of the Utah 
and California mission, on which Bro. Banta and 
himself had gone two years ago. The work in 
Idaho was progressing. That of Utah was in fine 
condition, with plenty of opportunities and facilities 
for preaching. In Salt Lake City and Ogden they 
had laroe congregations and the Lord was truly 
with them. He and Elder Brand had also got a 
strong hold in Echo City. 

Elder John H. Lake reported the Canada mis- 
sion. Elder Mark H. Forscutt presented a reso- 
lution. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 703 

'•That this conference do appoint a committee of 
five to draft and present, before this conferei ce shall 
adjourn, a memorial to Congress in which shall be 
embodied an epitome of our faith, and especially a 
setting forth of our views on government. Church 
polity and polygamy." 

President Joseph Smith and Elders W. W. Blair, 
Josiah Ells, Alexander H. Smith, and Mark H. 
Forscutt were appointed as that committee. 

The spirit and movements of this General Con- 
ference showed great missionary activities this year 
and the steady rise of the Reorganized Church 
before the attention of the nation. 

The "Memorial" was duly sent from the commit- 
tee in behalf of the Reorganized Church, addressed 
"To their Excellencies, the President and Vice Pres- 
ident, and the Honorable Senate and House of 
Representatives of the United States in Congress 
assembled." It set forth that the true Church of 
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a pure mono- 
gamic church in its origin, and in its laws and 
sacred books; and affirmed "that there can be no 
true Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 
excepting that which is based on the law of the 
Church." A special protest was also made in the 
memorial to that famous ''Remonstrance" which 
had just been presented to Congress from the 
Polygamic Church of Utah against the Cullom 
Bill. The following will illustrate : 



" We, your memorialists, would therefore submit 
for the consideration of Congress [ n its action on 



704 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the Utah question, and in its legislation on the 
right of Congress to interfere with polygamy as 
being a part of the faith of the Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter-day Saints: 

1 st. That the law of the Church found in the 
Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Cov- 
enants, books accepted by the polygamists them- 
selves, expressly forbid to one man more than one 
living wife. 

2nd. That the law contained in those books is 
the constitution of the Church ; that no law can 
obtain in the Church in contravention thereof, and 
that therefore polygamy is illegal and of no force." 

The Memorial also gave an elaborate exposition 
of the " faith of the Church on governments and 
laws in general," which in itself was a statement 
quite worthy of a great constitutional lawyer. It 
was signed in behalf of the Church by "Joseph 
Smith, Alex. H. Smith, Mark H. Forscutt, Wm. W. 
Blair, Josiah Ells." On the 5th day of May it was 
presented to the Senate by Senator Trumbull, of 
Illinois, and referred to the Committee on Terri- 
tories. 

In a letter from Thomas Liez, to President 
Joseph Smith, dated Salt Lake City, May 2nd, is a 
very sagacious view taken of the New Movement : 

"Scores were disappointed in not seeing 'The 
Coming Man ' at the conference held by the breth- 
ren of the New Movement. Many were very san- 
guine that the son of a certain prophet would make 
his appearance at that time, and take the lead. In. 
consequence of the non-appearance of that person, 
the faith of many waxed weak, yet they feel like 
'holding on awhile.' Socially and politically the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 705 

"Movement" will do a certain amount of good; 
but religiously it is far from being what is needed. 
At first it pledged itself to the maintenance of the 
principles of the gospel. They were to remain in- 
tact as at present, but one by one they are put 
aside, and considered fictions of the human mind. 
Luther once said, 'It is impossible for a society to 
prosper if it be unfaithful to the principles it lays 
down. Having abandoned what constituted its life, 
it can find naught but death.'" 

The Semi-Annual Conference of this year was 
held in September, (from the 15th to the 19th), at 
Council Bluffs, thus beginning the change from the 
original date of October 6th, for the convenience of 
the ministry and the Church generally in their 
Conference gathering in the west at an earlier 
season. 



1871. 



Elder W. W. Blair after the Annual Conference 
had returned to Utah in July 1870; thoroughly 
understanding now the changed situation of nearly 
everything in that country, Elder Blair's letters at 
the opening of the year indicates for the future an 
entire change of policy of the Reorganized Church 
in Utah touching emigration. Six companies of 
"Josephites" had been sent to the States by the 
emigration agent, in one of which was Elder E. W. 
Tullidge, who had renounced the " New Move- 
ment " the moment it ceased boldly to proclaim 
Joseph Smith the' Martyr as its prophet. This be- 
trayal of a Mormon Reform into the hands of 
Spiritualism not only scattered the five hundred 

45 



706 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

disciples who enrolled their names for the restor- 
ation of pure Mormonism and the redemption of 
Zion, but separated their leaders, Tullidge actually 
emigrating from Utah in a company of "Joseph- 
ites " in consequence of that betrayal, resigning the 
" Presidency of the Stake " and of the " Seventies," 
and the assistant editorship of the Mormon Trib- 
une. This was the end of the " Church of Zion " 
as an organization in Joseph's name ; every attempt 
at organization thereafter was in the name of Spirit- 
ualism. Henceforth there was no hope for Utah in 
religious reformation or redemption of the Mormon 
people excepting in a well pronounced mission pro- 
ceeding directly from the Reorganized Church. 
Elder Blair duly grasping this eccentric change of 
affairs respecting all parties concerned — Brigham- 
ites, Godbeites, Gentiles, and Josephites, and yet 
the radical shock which society had received, an- 
nounced in the Saints Herald that "we shall not 
encourage emigration to the east another year as 
the way is rapidly opening for the people to 
procure a living, now the mines are being exten- 
sively opened." 

The General Annual Conference for 1871 was 
held at Piano. The attendance of delegates was 
not as large as last year, but the reports show a 
better representation. The increase of the Church 
during the year was estimated at about twelve 
hundred and seventy members. Utah commanded 
great attention. Elder Blair reported by letter. 
Among his many pertinent statements and sugges- 
tions he said: 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 707 

" Prospects are highly encouraging for the speedy 
emancipation of the masses from the thralldom of 
priestcraft, and for the rapid and successful spread 
of the principles taught by the Reorganized Church. 
God is manifestly working the confusion and utter 
overthrow of the false leaders of the Utah systems. 
The tormenting fears under which the people have 
so long suffered at the hands of their rulers, are 
being taken from the people and put upon the 
oppressors. Utah needs a number more of faithful, 
intelligent, experienced, and spiritual ministers. 
The demand is urgent, and it should be supplied at 
once. None would be more acceptable as ministers 
in Utah, than Bros. A. H. and D. H. Smith, except, 
perhaps our beloved President, Joseph Smith." 

Elder Blair was right. The people of Utah look 
upon Joseph as the "coming man." This was not a 
mere conceit of the "Godbeites." It is the living 
idea of the future of the Church which for nearly 
twenty years has been slowly but surely growing in 
the faith and hope of the Latter-day Saints in every 
land. Their soundest judgment ever and anon 
comes up in the emphasis of events, Joseph is the 
" coming man " and the only " coming man " pos- 
sible. 

Elder John Seville writing from Stafford, Eng- 
land in June, said he was about to start to Liver- 
pool to baptize Mr. Coward and Mr. Enneon, 
brethren who had returned from Utah. Mr. Cow- 
ard was at one time at St. Louis in charge of the 
European emigration from that point; and is the 
same English merchant who grave to the Utah 
Church so many thousand pounds to import 
machinery for the manufactory of sugar, which like 



708 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the investments of others in iron, was consumed by 
the arrogance of wisdom in the " Priesthood." 
"Sugar House Ward" is still the nominal represen- 
tative of Bro. Coward's magnificent investment for 
the public good. Thousands of the Utah Saints 
will be pleased to learn that this thorough English 
gentleman is not lost to the Church. The Joseph- 
ite mission is indeed the regathering of the best of 
the sheep both at home and abroad. 

In the September number of the Saints' Herald 
is the following obituary notice of "Father" 
Gurley : 

" It is with no ordinary feelings of sadness that 
we chronicle the departure from this life, of Br. 
Zenas H. Gurley, Sen., one of the Twelve. 

" Br. Gurley was born in the State of New York, 
May 29th, 1 80 1, and was, consequently, well past 
his seventieth birthday when the summons to de- 
part reached him, which was on the 28th of August 
last. He heard the call of the Angel of the latter 
day work at Williamsburg, Canada, in the year 
A. D. 1838, and obeyed, receiving the rite of baptism 
at the hand of Elder James Blakeslee, in April of 
that year; and under the hands of Elders Page and 
Sherwood was ordained to the office of Elder in the 
following June. Br. Gurley followed the fortunes 
of the Church with unflagging faith until the death 
of the martyrs, Joseph and Hyrum, when, like many 
others, he wandered into the mists of the ' cloudy 
and dark day' that succeeded. He ultimately be- 
came convinced that there was need of and that 
there would be an uprising and a re-gathering; nor 
was he alone in this, for many others were of kin- 
dred sentiments. He was one among the elders 
with whom the work of re-organization began, and 
was called and ordained an apostle in April, 1853. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 709 

" To say that Br. Zenas H. Gurley has been a 
faithful adherent to the principles of the Latter 
Day Work, is but to say what all who knew him 
can affirm. 

" Sometime last winter, Br. Gurley was attending 
a meeting at the residence of Sr. Philo Howard, 
near Batavia, and while there preached his last dis- 
course. He was taken sick before leaving there, 
and had failed to rally to his former good health, 
although he was thought to be slowly gaining when 
the ' reaper of death's harvest ' struck him down. 

" He was stopping at the house of Br. Jesse L. 
Adams, not far from Joy Station, in Mercer county, 
Illinois, when he died, having been with the Buffalo 
Prairie saints for some two or three weeks prior to 
that time. 

11 Perhaps no more energetic defender of the ' one 
faith' has lived in modern Israel than our departed 
brother has been. Stern in his integrity against 
evil doing, his heart was always softened by the cry 
of the erring and repentant, and for them he was 
ready to sacrifice his all if thereby he could magnify 
the cause of the Redeemer." 



The Semi-Annual Conference was held near 
Council Bluffs, commencing September 20th. W 
W. Blair had lately returned from his Pacific Mis- 
sion. The Utah Mission was again urged upon 
the consideration of the Church. Elder Blair said: 
" After my mission to California, I returned to 
Utah and found great changes had taken place 
there. Spiritualism and infidelity prevail there ; 
but the people are freer. I wish this conference 
would send half a dozen, or a score of Elders to 
Utah." 

In December Bro. Ells wrote: " I had the privil- 



yiO LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

ege of baptizing three at Indian River, Maine, on 
Sunday, the third of December. Others would have 
been baptized, but for their too late arrival at the 
place of meeting. These were a part of the colony 
that Elder G. J. Adams took to Jaffa, Palestine, and 
who returned from there." Thus, year after year, 
the Lord has been re-gathering his scattered Israel. 



1872 



In the Saints' Herald of April ist, Joseph Smith 
administerd a noble rebuke to the Utah " Liberal 
Party" and the Salt Lake Tribune. He said: 

" We have noticed with some degree of curiosity, 
and some regret, the course pursued by what is 
called the Reform or Liberal Party, in Salt Lake 
City, as appears from the Salt Lake Tribune, 
When this journal first set out there was a feeling 
humanity discoverable in its editorials and leading 
articles, that indicated that the course pursued was 
rather forced upon the men who sustain it than 
otherwise; but whether the change in its editorial 
management has changed the forecast of its mission, 
or destiny itself has shaped its ends, there is a wide 
difference in the animus of its leaders now and then. 
It has grown bitter, harsh and acrimonious ; and, 
except for now and then a saving clause, it might 
be inferred that those who were instrumental in 
originating and continuing the scheme of its publi- 
cation, had either sold out their entire interest in it 
as a financial instrument and social reform, or had 
forgotten that they ever held a tie in common with 
those against whom their invectives are now 
hurled." * * * 

"We regard the situation in Utah as fraught 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 711 

with grave issues; not only to 'Mormons' and 
'Gentiles' there; but to the people of the United 
States generally, and to us of the Reorganization 
especially. 

" The position which we as an individual have 
assumed upon the main question at issue, has been 
known from the first ; and much, very much censure 
has been passed upon us for assuming that position. 
Many things which have transpired within the past 
few years go far towards confirming us in the 
position taken, and relieving it from its seeming 
inconsistency. 

" Had we less faith in the law of compensation, 
which ordained of God makes all things even, we 
should scarcely have cared to have entered into the 
field of religious and social warfare as a defender of 
the faith of 'the fathers' of the Church, as a Latter- 
day Saint under the depressing clouds that to us 
have ever lain over the horizon of the past, and 
with a knowledge of the ordeal to which we must 
submit, being the descendant of one whose name 
was ' had for good and evil ' among men. Very 
few have shared with us in the feelings and senti- 
ments this warfare has given rise to. Nor have we 
often cared to express them, for fear that they might 
be chargeable to an undue morbidity of mind not 
compatible with the largeness and grandeur of the 
plan of salvation. 

" To some extent, we have feared what the devel- 
opments of a disruption in Utah might reveal of 
the past. This fear we have outgrown or overcome; 
and we are now persuaded, that not being responsi- 
ble for the acts of others who have lived in the 
past, we can neither change nor obliterate the 
record they have made; we have therefore no just 
reason to fear what the truths of that record are. 
We are now prepared for whatever those reveal- 
ments of the past may be. 



712 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" We wish everybody to understand, that we are 
not an apologist for Brigham Young, or any of 
those who are his coadjutors; neither are we now a 
defender of those things which in times past we 
have declared our opposition to. We are however, 
now, and we ever expect to be, an opposer of per- 
secution, irresponsible violence unjust denunciation, 
harsh, vindictive vituperation, and a building up of 
reputation out of the vices and follies of others. 
We have further concluded that now was a. proper 
time to be understood upon some portion of the 
Utah question." 

Would that these noble passages had been read 
by all the Mormon people of Utah; some day they 
will be to them as oil poured upon the troubled 
waters. 

The Annual General Conference for 1872, was 
held in St. Louis. 

In the June number of the Herald is the obituary 
of President William Marks. President Joseph 
Smith thus wrote of him: 

" With feelings of no ordinary moment called 
forth by an event of more than common interest to 
the church, we chronicle the departure of William 
Marks, Senior, from this earthly life. 

" Br. Marks was one of the noblest of men. He 
has lived a life of most singular usefulness to his 
fellow men. Kind and upright in thought, it was 

J. o o 

known of him that his acts were founded in his 
consciousness of right; and what was wrong to him 
he would not do. 

" Br. Marks united with the Church at an early day 
and was with the saints through all their troubles, 
up to the terrifying times of eighteen hundred and 
forty four and five, and then, because that he would 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 713 

not keep still while crime and iniquity overran the 
rights and liberties of the people of the Church, he 
was made an offender and left the city of Nauvoo. 
He was identified with some of the* movements 
towards reorganization of the scattered ones of the 
fold, but in each instance, when he became aware 
that there were principles of evil and wrong obtain- 
ing in church government, and among the origina- 
tors, he announced his disapproval and withdrew 
from their association. 

" As the President of the Stake at Nauvoo, Br. 
Marks was one of the most faithful and steadfast 
men the Church had. He was an example of clear- 
headed wisdom, a man who ruled his own spirit, 
and consequently one who controlled others. He 
was a wise counselor and a wise administrator; and 
became one of the most valued and trusted friends 
of the martyr, Joseph. His integrity was incor- 
ruptible. 

" He cast his lot and his influence with the 
Reorganization in 1859, an< ^ remained a steadfast 
promoter of the truth ; ever ready to reprove what 
he saw that he believed to be wrong; and fearing 
no man, loving neither place nor power, his personal 
influence was always a force for the cause of God 
on the earth. 

At the proper time Br. Win. Marks became the 
Counselor to the President of the Reorganized 
Church, which position he held at the time of his 
departure, which occurred on the 22nd day of May, 
1872, at 11 h. 45 m. a.m. 

"In a good old age, respected and loved, he has 
laid down the weapons of his earthly warfare with- 
out regret, to take up the unbroken threads of his 
spiritual existence, in the rest of the paradise of 
God, there to await the assembling of the redeemed 
and the sanctified, when ' He shall gather in one 
all things in Christ.' 



714 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" Br. Marks was born in Rutland, Vermont, No- 
vember 15th, 1792, and died May 22nd, 1872, having 
lived nearly eighty years. He was patient and long 
suffering during his decay, and seemed to be full of 
confidence that a blessed future awaited him. His 
death was as the death of the righteous." 

At the Annual Conference Elder Mark H. Fors- 
cutt was appointed to the Presidency of the British 
Mission. His valedictory as assistant editor of the 
Latter-day Saints' Herald appeared on the 15th of 
June. On the 20th he started on his mission ac- 
companied by Elder John S. Patterson. 

The Semi-Annual Conference of this year was 
held at Parks' Mills, Iowa, September 12th to 15th. 

The year closed with Josiah Ells and David H. 
Smith on mission in Utah. 



1873 



Elder Samuel Powers, of the quorum of the 
Twelve, died on the 17th of February, and the 
Saints' Herald was put in mourning over the event. 

The General Annual Conference was held this 
year at Piano, Joseph Smith presiding. Among 
the reports, Elders Josiah Ells and David H. Smith 
reported their labors in Utah. David said "he 
baptized thirteen while there. Some professed 
great love for the sons of Joseph, but wished them 
to adopt their peculiar platform. He had met with 
much kindness while there, and a good deal of* 
trial." During this conference the President pre- 
sented a revelation which was read as follows: 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. Jl$ 

" Plano, Illinois, April 6th, 1873. 
" To the Church in Conference assembled, greeting : — 
" In answer to long continued and earnest prayer 
to God for aid and light upon the condition of the 
Quorums of the Church, on the morning of the 1st 
of March, 1873, I received the following: — 

"Hearken to the voice of the Spirit, O, ye Elders of my 
Church; the prayers of my people have prevailed with me. 

"Behold, it is wisdom in me, and expedient in my church, 
that the chief Quorums should be more nearly filled, and their 
organization more nearly completed. Thus saith the Spirit. 

"Let my servants, William W. Blair and David H. Smith 
be chosen and ordained to be Counselors to my servant, the 
Presiding Elder of my Church. Let them be set apart to this 
office b}' the laying on of hands by my servants, whose duty it 
is to ordain and set in order the officers of my church; and let 
my servants, the President of the High Priests' Quorum and 
the President of the Lesser Priesthood, also lay their hands 
upon these their brethren who are to be Counselors, but let my 
servants of the Twelve be the spokesmen. 

"Let my servants William H. Kelley, Thomas W. Smith, 
James Caffall, John H. Lake, Alexander H. Smith, Zenas H. 
. Gurley, and Joseph R. Lambert, be chosen as especial witnesses, 
even of the Quorum of the Twelve, for they are called there- 
unto, that they may take this ministry upon them. Let them 
be ordained and set apart to this office by the laying on of the 
hands of my servants, Joseph Smith, Jason W. Briggs, and 
William W. Blair. 

"Verily, I say unto you, if these my servants will henceforth 
magnify their calling in honor before me, they shall become 
men of power and excellent wisdom in the assemblies of my 
people. 

"Let the names of my servants, Daniel B. Rasey and Reuben 
Newkirk, be taken from the record of the Quorum of the 
Twelve and placed with the records of the names of the Elders, 
and let them labor as Elders, and their labors will be accepted 
by me. 

"It is my will that my servants, Jason W. Briggs, Josiah Ells 
and Edmund C. Briggs, remain and stand in their lot as 
especial witnesses before me. Let them diligently labor in 
their ministry, encouraging and directing their brethren in 
their labors. It is expedient for the good of my cause that 
my servant Jason take the active oversight of his Quorum. 

"Let my servants, Archibald M. Wilsey, William D. Morton, 
and George Rarick, be ordained High Priests; and let my 



yi6 LJFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

servants, E. C. Brand, Charles W. Wandell, and Duncan 
Campbell be appointed as special witnesses of the Seventy in 
their places ; and let my servants, Joseph Lakeman, Glaud Rod- 
ger, John T. Davies, and John S. Patterson, be also appointed 
as witnesses of the Seventy before me. 

"Until such time as the Quorum of the Twelve shall be filled 
the decision of that Quorum, being a unanimous decision, shall 
be accounted final as if such Quorum were filled, according to 
my law as given in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. And 
until such time as the Quorum of the Seventy shall be filled, 
their decision, if unanimous and agreeing with that of the 
Quorum of the Twelve, shall be considered the same as if the 
Quorum were filled. 

"It is expedient that the Bishop of my Church shall choose 
two Counselors, and that they be ordained to their office as my 
law directs, that there may be henceforth no caviling among 
my people. The Bishop of my Church may also choose and 
appoint Bishop's Agents, until it shall be wisdom in me to ordain 
other Bishops in the districts and large branches of my church. 

"It is not expedient in me that there shall be any stakes ap- 
pointed until I command my people. When it shall be neces- 
sary, I will command that they be established. Let my com- 
mandments to gather into the regions round about, and the 
counsel of the elders of my church, guide in this matter until it 
shall be otherwise given of me. 

"Behold, if my servants and my handmaidens, of the different 
organizations tor good among my people, shall continue in 
righteousness, they shall be blessed, even as they bless others of 
the household of faith. 

"Let contentions and quarrelings among you cease. Sustain 
each other in peace, and ye shall be blessed with my Spirit, in 
comforting and strengthening you for my work. 

"It is not expedient that I command you further at this time ; 
but be ye diligent, wise and faithful, doing all things with an 
eye single for the glory of your God, and the good of His 
people. 

"Thus saith the Lord. Amen. 

"JOSEPH SMITH, 

"President of the Church." 

At due process of action upon this revelation by 
the conference, Elders W. W. Blair and D. H. 
Smith were ordained under the hands of Elders J.. 
W. Briggs, E. C. Briggs, Josiah Ells, Isaac Sheen, 
and I. L. Rogers. Elders W. H. Kelley, T. W. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. JlJ 

Smith, J. H. Lake, A. H. Smith and J. R. Lambert 
were ordained under the hands of Elders Joseph 
Smith, W. W. Blair and J. W. Briggs. Bishop 
Israel L. Rogers made choice of Elijah Banta and 
David Dancer as his two Counselors. 

On the 18th of April, Colin C. McPherson and 
Enoch Morrin were killed while on their way to a 
conference held at Providence, Rhode Island, by 
the accident on the Stonington and Providence 
Railroad, in what was termed the " Richmond 
Switch Horror." Brother McPherson was the pres- 
ident of the Williamsbuiof Branch. He was one of 
the earliest converts in Scotland. If we remember 
rightly, the famous Sir Colin Campbell was his 
" godfather." 

The Semi-Annual Conference was held this year 
(September 3rd) in a beautiful grove, three miles 
north-east of Council Bluffs. Reporters of news- 
papers were present*, one of whom, in the Council 
Bluffs Nonpareil, thus describes: "The attendants 
are a primitive, conscientious and courageous look- 
ing people. Their religion has a decided mental 
stamp, with probably less spirituality and emotion 
than that which characterizes other camp meetings. 
The Prophet Joseph Smith is a man of plain and 
cordial address. His head is exceedingly high, 
indicating unusual qualities of veneration, benevo- 
lence, and human nature. His language is sponta- 
neous and fluent; he has great individuality and a 
ready manner ; and in fact he would at once rank 
as a leader and speaker of high grade, in any 
church and in any land. He evidently possesses 
the complete allegiance of his people; and, though 



71 8 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

their church government is congregational, his 
words fall on them with all the influence of law. 
As a religious leader, he is admirably qualified, and 
ranks among the foremost living characters of that 
class of men." 



1 874. 



Elder Isaac Sheen, the first editor and founder 
of the Saints' Herald, died April 3rd, 1874; tne 
Herald was put in mourning for him. 

The twenty-second Annual Conference of the 
Reorganized Church was held at Piano, Joseph 
Smith presiding, assisted by President W. W. Blair. 
At this conference, Zenas H. Gurley, junior, of the 
Twelve, was appointed to the Utah mission, and 
Robert Warnock was associated with him. 

The Semi-Annual Conference was held at Parks' 
Grove, Pottawattamie county, Iowa, commencing 
September 19th. The missionary labors at home 
and abroad were well represented in person, or by 
letter. Concerning the California mission, Alexan- 
der H. Smith said, " there never has been a time 
when the people of California were as anxious to 
hear the word of God as they are now." One 
hundred and fifty had been baptized since he enter- 
ed upon the mission. Jason W. Briggs was 
requested by the conference to proceed to Utah 
and take charge of that mission. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 719 



1875 



The year opened with something of a " new de- 
parture," to use a journalistic phrase, between the 
two sister churches — the monogamic and the poly- 
gamic. The Ogden Junction, in December, having 
challenged the editor of the " Josephite Herald" to 
the issue on polygamy, declaring, " He dares not 
face the music!" "The son of the father" dared in 
the Herald of January. The Utah church also got 
the following 1 in exchange from the authorities of 
the Reorganized Church : 

" Salt Lake City, Utah, 

"December ist, 1874. 

" Messrs. Orson Pratt and Daniel H. Wells : — Sirs : 
In pursuance of our mission to Utah to preach the 
gospel of Christ, and to reclaim the Latter Day 
Saints from error and false doctrines, into which 
they have been led ; among which are the following: 

" 1st. That Adam is God, 'and the only God with 
whom we have to do,' as taught by Brigham Young, 
Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 50, and elsewhere. 

" 2d. That polygamy, together with that document 
called a 'revelation,' dated July 12th, 1843, 1S °f 
God ; as taught by Orson Pratt, in the Seers, and 
elsewhere by others. 

3d. Blood Atonement ; that is, the killing of men 
by the chief Elders of the Church, in order to save 
them ; as taught by Brigham Young and others. 

4th. That Brigham Young is the rightful success- 
or of Joseph Smith, in the Presidency of the Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; as claimed 
by himself, yourselves, and others. 

" 5th. That Utah is the place of safety, or place of 
Zion, and that the organization there, over which 



720 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Brigham Young presides, is the Church of Jesus 
Christ of Latter Day Saints, as taught in the 
Deseret News, Journal of Discourses, Millennial 
Star, etc, all of which we deny. 

"We, therefore, invite you both, or either of you, 
to come forward and discuss publicly with us, or one 
of us, the above principles and doctrines of your 
faith. If those principles are true and divine, all 
ought to know it ; if they are false and pernicious, 
all ought also to know that. 

" And more especially is this course proper, since, 
in this country, almost all great questions of the 
hour are publicly discussed. Of course you will 
affirm these propositions ; but that the laboring oar 
may be equally shared by us, we in denying the first 
proposition, will affirm and undertake to prove, that 
Adam worship is idolatry, equal to that of the 
worship of Baal. 

" In denying the second thesis, we will prove that 
polygamy is abominable in the sight of the Lord, 
forbidden in the books that all Latter Day Saints 
profess to believe ; and that the so-called revelation 
of July 1 2th, 1843, * s an invention, false in principle 
and pernicious in its influence, a fraud in its origin, 
neither genuine nor authentic. 

" In denying the third proposition, we will prove 
that it is one of the doctrines of devils, and to obey 
it is a capital crime against the laws of God and man. 

"In denying the fourth proposition, we will show 
that Joseph Smith, eldest son of Joseph Smith, is 
the rightful successor of his father in the Presidency 
of the Church, and that Brigrom Young, is an 
usurper, and the quorum organization under him, 
are a conspiracy to rob the fatherless, the seed of 
Joseph of the birthright promised of the Lord, and 
that they are, as a body or Church, rejected of God: 

"In denying the fifth proposition, we will affirm 
and prove that the ' Reorganization," over which 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 72 1 

Joseph Smith, son of Joseph Smith, presides, is the 
true and only Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day 
Saints. Authorities to be used in the discussion : 
the Bible, Book of Mormon, Book of Doctrine and 
Covenants; also Church publications from a. d. 1830 
to a. d. 1844. 

" If you accept this proposal, we can arrange the 
preliminaries necessary. We await your reply, 
which we request during this week, or at your earli- 
est convenience. 

" Respectfully, 

" Jason W. Briggs, 
"Zenas H. Gurley, 

" Members of the Quorum of the Twelve in the 
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day 
Saints." 

The invitation was declined by the elder church, 
which has from the first affected to treat with con- 
tempt the Reorganization under "young Joseph," 
yet perchance with a secret fear of the decisive 
issue which must sooner or later come. As vain 
had it been in the Papal Church to have shuffled 
from the issue with Protestantism as for the poly- 
gamic " mother church " of the latter days to shuffle 
away from the meeting which she must come to 
with the Reorganized Church of Latter-day Saints 
under Joseph, the son of Joseph. That controversy 
will come in Utah ; there is manifest destiny in it ; 
and when it does come it may be more than a mere 
discussion on the platform. It will surely be an 
issue between "peoples" rather than "champions," 
unless the apostles of the father's calling return to 
their righteousness and the purity of the gospel at 
the call of the son. 



722 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Elder Jason Briggs at this period was publishing 
" The Messenger'' in Salt Lake City. It was a very 
able, but a very caustic little paper. It might have 
been more fitly named the " The Wasp" than " The 
Messenger!' Utah, however, has needed some 
stinging into newness of life. She will by and by 
need the comforter; but it is the mission of Joseph 
the son to cry in the valleys of the mountains, the 
" Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your 
God." 

The General Annual Conference was held at 
Piano, Joseph Smith presiding, assisted by Presi- 
dent W. W. Blair. Elaborate reports were made 
in writing by the Elders from various parts of the 
world. At this session Henry A. Stebbins was 
chosen by the presiding Bishop to be one of his 
Counselors in the place of Bro. Banta, who was 
released last fall. 

In May, news was received from Elder Glaud 
Rodger, of the Australian mission, of the death of 
his compeer, Elder Charles W. Wandell. The de- 
ceased was a Utah man, once a member of her 
Legislature. His letters under the nom de plume of 
Argus, at one time created quite a sensation in the 
Corrinne Reporter, and his lectures against the 
Mountain Meadow Massacre, in the Liberal Insti- 
tute, were most able and terrible in their denunci- 
ation. 

Martin Harris, one of the witnesses of the Book 
of Mormon, died at Clarkston, Cache County, Utah, 
July ioth, 1875, aged ninety-two years, one month 
and twenty-two days. 

The Semi-Annual Conference was held near 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. J2^ 

Council Bluffs, Iowa, September 8th, Joseph Smith 
presiding, assisted by W. W. Blair. Elders Jason 
W. Briggs and Zenas H. Gurley were present from 
Utah. The subject was discussed whether or not 
it were wise to prosecute or abandon the Utah 
mission. Elder Gurley said he felt at times to con- 
tinue and at times to abandon it. Elder Briggs 
said. "I have a definite opinion. If the sects feel 
their responsibility regarding Utah, the Reorgani- 
zation certainly ought to do the same, and I think 
owes it to God and themselves to prosecute the 
mission, and to build a place or places of worship, 
as an absolute necessity. We can not afford to 
abandon it: hence must prosecute it. 

President Joseph Smith said: "We ought to 
take the front rank in prosecuting this mission, in 
order that the public may discriminate between us 
and the people of Utah. That church in Utah has 
connection with Norway, Sweden, Denmark and 
other countries, and raises difficulties for us in 
prosecuting missions in those countries. One 
thing needed is a spirit of self-sacrifice in those 
interested in this mission, a greater spirit of self- 
sacrifice than we have ever had, to meet the oppro- 
brium arising from the action of the past. The 
brethren will please bear this in mind." 

President Blair said : " I have been interested in 
this mission. As for a true missionary spirit, it 
was as prominent in the Utah mission from 1863 to 
to 1867 as in any field of labor. Much has been 
done without chapels, and much can yet be done. 
Thousands have come out from there, and thou- 
sands in the world have been able to discriminate 



724 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

between the two teachings, through the efforts of 
the Reorganized Church." 

Elder W. H. Kelley, of the Twelve, was now in 
Utah on a mission. 



1876 



The General Annual Conference was held, as 
usual, at Piano; Joseph Smith presiding, assisted by 
President Blair. The reports showed that the 
Reorganized Church numbered now upwards often 
thousand baptized members, which of course with 
the families who were substantially identified with 
the Church, made the total strength quite double 
that number. 

The Semi-Annual Conference was held near 
Council Bluffs, commencing this year on the 6th of 
October. President Joseph Smith being absent in 
California, President W. W. Blair was chosen to 
preside. The action of the conference was sustain- 
ed with the same vigorous spirit manifested on 
former occasions, but missionary arrangements 
remained intact. 



1877. 



The year opened with President Joseph Smith 
in charge at home again. The editor published his 
"notes of travel" in the January number of the 
Herald. He had been to Salt Lake City; a pas- 
sage from his " notes " will illustrate: 

" On Sunday, December 3rd, we spoke twice, 
morning and afternoon, in the Liberal Institute, to 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 725 

quite large and attentive audiences; meeting a 
number of old-time Saints, who kindly remembered 
us for ' our fathers sake.' They loved him and 
wished to shake hands because of that love. We 
were pleased to learn of their love and regard still 
cherished for him; but it was a trifle mortifying to 
be made to think we had no merit of our own for 
which to claim a recognition. However, some 
seemed to grant this, and we can not complain. 
On the Wednesday night we again spoke in the 
Institute; and on Thursday night, December 7th, 
we spoke in Bishop Rawlins' ward meeting house, 
near Union Fort, he ha\inor kindh 7 granted us the 
privilege at the request of Brother Wm. P. Smith, 
our brother in charge of the little Union Branch, of 
that place. The house was warmed and lighted; 
was a very comfortable place to speak in, and, 
though large, was well filled. The audience was 
very attentive, and although many of them at first 
looked as if they expected us to be harsh and 
denunciatory, this was apparently dissipated, and 
good feeling seemed to prevail at last." 

The twenty-fifth Annual Conference of the Reor- 
ganization convened at Piano; Joseph Smith pre- 
siding, assisted by President W. W. Blair. The 
Church Recorder's report showed branches estab- 
lished in nearly all the States and in foreign lands: 
total, 316 branches with 10,285 members; thus 
showing that the Reorganized Church had grown 
into one of those grand religious organisms which 
society and history class as the " established church- 
es." Like the original church, which Joseph the 
Martyr established in 1830. with six members, the 
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day 
Saints had grown from just such a handful, so that 



726 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Joseph the son properly ranks with his father as a 
church founder. Thus had Joseph the second 
already proved that he is truly the fathers success- 
or by the very class of evidence which to the 
historian is supreme. The facts of history is the 
only ground work of his judgment, and the proofs 
of history is ever to him divine proof: the Reor- 
ganized Church herself is " Young Joseph's" proof 
and witness of his divine call to stand in his father's 
place. 

On the 29th of August, 1877, at 4 p-m., at Salt 
Lake City, Brigham Young, President of the Utah 
church, died, aged seventy-six years and three 
months. His body was embalmed, and laid in state 
from 9 a.m., Saturday, September 1st, till 11 a.m., 
Sunday 2nd, when the funeral services commenced. 
There were quite fifteen thousand people in the 
" Great Tabernacle " at the service, and quite as 
many more who were unable to obtain an entrance. 
People came from all parts of the country. His 
tomb is on his own grounds on the " sides of the 
North," and within those remarkable castle-like 
walls which distinguished the residence of the 
" Mormon king," but which, since his death are fast 
beine demolished. 

The Semi-Annual Conference of the Reorganized 
Church convened at Galland's Grove, Shelby Coun- 
ty, Iowa, September 20th. In opening the confer- 
ence, President Joseph Smith, in a forcible speech 
gave expression to the following: 

"The affairs in Utah call forth thought; and it 
will demand energy on our part to meet coming 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 727 

events. Not from ambition for place, but from dif- 
ferences of views, there have arisen things that 
have distracted the minds of some less qualified to 
judge of these differences, than those holding them. 
" By the outside world, we are less misunderstood 
at the present than at any time in our previous 
history. We are expected to help solve one of the 
most perplexing problems that now engrosses the 
attention of the world. I refer to the Utah Terri- 
torial problem. The only real difficulty in the way 
of our progress is the lack of right action. As was 
said by a learned political economist, ' The only 
way to resume is to resume.' So with the Latter- 
day Saints. They should not wait for united action 
upon each other's views, but should act promptly 
and wisely with the best light they have. Our 
religion is drawing us nearer to humanity. We 
have had the errors of the past to fight, and have 
still to meet the issue with both conservative and 
progressive minds; with strictly religious and with 
sceptical minds ; and as there comes out of the 
classes represented fry these varied minds those 
who have* heard and who obey the gospel truths, 
they will necessarily bring with them more or less 
of the peculiar views and habits attaching to their 
past lives; and hence the necessity for kindness and 
charity for each other. We must not expect these 
differences to subside only as they do so by the 
gradual merging of them into a Christ-like oneness 
of spirit. It is for us to redeem the principles 
which have been trailed in the dust. We are now 
approaching a crisis; there should be more unanim- 
ity of feeling among us to meet it. Whether we 
view things from the same, or from different stand- 
points, I hope there are none among us who can 
not find it in their hearts to trust God with the 
results — the ultimate results of the work. We have 
learned from past experience, that from which we 



728 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

hope for benefit to arise in the future. We ieel 
confident that if we prove faithful to the trust 
reposed in us, we shall be able to accomplish good 
results. My mind has been led to a contemplation 
of the history of the past. We are accredited with 
being honest in our convictions and purposes; yet 
we have met not only the obstacles which the 
Church had to meet in the first days of its existence 
in this dispensation, but we have also to meet the 
mistakes made by those who formerly bore its ban- 
ner. Fifteen years ago I sought to encourage the 
Saints here at Galland's Grove, at Fisher's Grove, 
and elsewhere, to retain their homes, and extend 
their borders. They thought I was inexperienced, 
and they neglected to do as advised; the result is 
they have lost the key to much of the beautiful 
country which God had placed within their reach. 
I may not live very long, but I expect to live long 
enough to see the name of Latter Day Saint made 
honorable. We hope and have hoped that latter 
day Israel will become settled and established, and 
cease to wander. I hope, too, that we may be able 
to work together on the basis of principle* and that 
nothing may occur to mar our harmony." 



1878 



The following appeared in the Saints' Herald of 
March 1st : 

" The Saints are requested to observe Sunday, 
March 31st, as a day of fasting and prayer, for the 
general success of the work; for divine care and 
direction during the session of General Conference 
in April; for the better understanding among the 
Elders upon duty, doctrine, church government and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 729 

discipline, and for the redemption and delivery from 
mental distress and spiritual bondage those of the 
Saints thus afflicted. 

" Joseph Smith, ] ~ f . , 
"W.W.Blair, } Of Presidency. 

"Plano, Illinois, February 25th, 1S7S." 



And the followine from the editor in the number 
for April 15th, will show the answer: 

"The April Conference for 1878 is past. The 
Elders have come and are gone. The Saints who 
visited us, and those who sojourned, have been per- 
mitted a season of extraordinary good feeling, a 
gospel liberty. The business sessions, with one 
exception, were marked with excellent courtesy, and 
a kindness of deportment seldom seen in a deliber- 
ative assembly, before which questions of so 
vexatious a nature were brought. The one referred 
to, lasted but for a time, and was more the result of 
anxious care for the good of all and the maintenance 
of right as seen from the individual point of obser- 
vation, and was temporary. A better understand- 
ing between the Eldership in much that appertains 
to usefulness in the field and the council, seems to 
have been reached; and a better comprehension of 
the mission and scope of the work was undoubtedly 
had. * * * 

" Uncle William Smith, only surviving brother to 
Joseph and Hyrum, was present and united with 
the Church. His venerable locks and sonorous 
voice, as he addressed the Saints on Friday evening, 
on the fulfillment of one of Ezekiel's prophecies, 
respecting the Christ, gave one of the connecting 
links between the Church under the presidency of 
the Martyr, and the Reorganization. Together with 
this, the administration of the children of many of 
the earlier Elders of the Church, such as brethren 



730 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Lambert, Kelley, Gurley and Smith, and the pres- 
ence of some of the grandsons of some of those 
early laborers, gave force and vitality to the propri- 
ety of the Reorganization." 

The following extraordinary vision of Joseph, the 
second Prophet of the Church, will be read with a 
keen interest, and will illustrate beautifully that 
inspired visions form the very gems of sacred 
literature : 

THE HOUSE OF THE LORD 

AS SEEN IN VISION. 

" In sleep, or in waking hour, I can not tell, I saw 
and realized what I shall try to relate; and, though 
some years have elapsed, what was seen and heard 
during that eventful hour remains vividly impressed 
upon my mind, as if heard and seen but yesternight. 

"I had slept and was consciously awake, and 
approaching a building, apparently eighty feet long 
by fifty in width, the walls of which were about 
twenty-five feet high from the top of the foundation, 
which was raised some five or six feet from the 
ground, and of stone, roughly dressed by the mason's 
hammer, though jointed and faced at the edges. 
The front was to the east, and as I approached it, 
from the north-east, I had time to note that on the 
outside of the building no attempt had been made 
by the builders at ornamentation ; except that 
along the sides were a series of pilasters standing 
out from the main wall a few inches, though forming 
a part of the wall; the bases of which were finished 
in square work, pedestal and pediment, the tops in 
capitals rich and peculiar in style, but which I can 
not describe. At the front a flight of nine, wide, 
stone steps reaching nearly across the building, led 
up to the entrance; this entrance being an open 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 73 1 

porch about sixeeen feet deep and thirty wide. 
Two finished pillars stood at the outer edge of this 
porch, supporting, with the walls at either side, three 
arches. These pillars had square and solid finishes 
at the base, but rose from their bases round and 
smooth, to their caps, which were very richly carved 
in square designs; the arches which they supported 
the inner and outer feet of, were exactly circular, 
and formed of cut stone, and were only a few feet 
below the ceiling of the porch. The inner side of 
the porch formed the outer wall of the assembly 
room, and was richly paneled between the open 
doors, one at either side of the porch opening 
straight into the building from the front, and appar- 
ently three and a half feet wide and nine or ten feet 
high. 

" As I passed up the steps I seemed to know that 
the Saints were assembling for some purpose, and 
yet I felt no care nor responsibility respecting the 
nature of the assembly, any more than to be there 
with the rest. I found three or four brethren stand- 
ing at the right, or north end of the porch, convers- 
ing in low and quiet tones together. I joined them 
for a moment; and, while standing there, I saw 
numbers of both brethren and sisters come up the 
steps and pass across the porch and into the open 
doors, the brethren to the right, the sisters to the 
left. Some I knew; some were strangers whom I 
had never seen before. Some, of both men and 
women, who came briskly up the steps and walked 
freely across the porch, went no further than the 
doors, when, for some cause that I could not see, 
they stopped, and either turned immediately round 
and walked hastily away, or turned hesitatingly, 
slowly and sadly, and, with frequent backward 
glances, went away as if overcome and distressed. 

" While standing thus a shadowy fear came over 
me, that, as I saw some turned away for reasons 



J2> 2 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

that I did not know, and as I then supposed by 
some one standing at the doors, so I might not be 
permitted to go in ; and, in my perplexed and doubt- 
ing frame of mind, I turned from the brethren with 
whom I was chatting and walked slowly toward the 
door upon the right, thinking that, if I saw the least 
sign that I was not to go in, I would turn at once 
away, as if I did not care to enter. As I came near 
to the doorway, to my surprise, I saw neither senti- 
nel nor usher, neither door shutter, nor bolt, lock 
nor hinge, nothing but the open doorway with door 
jams, lintel and threshhold smooth and free from 
any indication of there ever having been a shutter 
with which to close the opening. My surprise was 
increased when, being permitted to pass in, I found 
no one inside having charge of the door or aisle; 
nor anything to betray the mystery of turning those 
back that had gone away. 

" I went carefully in, taking my hat off as I passed 
the doorway, and walked about a third of the way 
up the aisle which led the entire length of the room, 
ending against the side of the pulpit platform. A 
dim and mellow light shone in the building, though 
I saw no windows; nor did it seem as if the lieht 
came from the sun shining out of doors, for none 
came in at the open doors. There were two aisles, 
one at either side of the room, a trifle wider than 
the doorway, dividing the seated portion into three 
parts ; the seats were similar to some styles of 
church pews, or slips, finished in dark, heavy, 
polished woods, and at the two sides running level 
from end to end, and across the room, except at the 
two sides of the pulpit platform, where they were 
placed lengthwise, facing the pulpit. The middle 
row of seats were in parallel lines with those at the 
side, and level with them for about two-thirds of the 
way from the pulpit to the door, when they rose in a 
circle, arc down, until the last one was raised five or 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 733 

six feet. At equal distances apart, and at the outer 
side of the inner row of seats, were four pillars sup- 
porting the roof. 

" The pulpit platform was very elaborately finished, 
and contained a seated apartment, richly furnished; 
two small circular tables, one at either side, chairs 
at the sides, and an orator's desk all of a similar 
material and finish as the seats, only much more 
exquisitely carved and colored. The walls were, 
apparently, painted, and finished in pictured designs, 
that at the back of the platform much more elabor- 
ate and complicated than those at the sides; the 
ceiling, also, was richly decorated ; the cornices 
profusely so, with carven imagery, scroll and counter- 
scroll, reaching along the sides, and down the 
corners, and along the walls in places, corresponding 
to the pilasters upon the outer surface. In suitable 
niches, and on brackets carved and embellished, 
were pictures and statuettes, the pictures represent- 
ing scenes in the life of the Savior, the Apostles of 
the New Testament, and of the Book of Mormon; 
the statuettes the figures of covenant leaders of 
both continents, ancient and modern. 

" I had, however, only time to catch a hasty 
glimpse of all that is so briefly described, when a 
sort of metallic, ringing sound from the left hand 
door, and a kind of flashing light diverted my 
attention, and I looked across to the other side, but 
saw nothing. 

" I had hardly time to renew my survey of the 
walls and ceiling, when I was fairly startled by a 
repetition of the sound already referred to, this 
time at the door on the right, through which I had 
come; I turned in my seat, and saw a man standing 
at the doorway facing it as if to come in, and in the 
doorway itself, two crossed swords, much like the 
old fashioned broad swords, only a trifle broader; 
the hilts rested against the door-jams, one at either 



734 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

side, about two and a half feet from the floor, 
and the swords crossed each other, edge down, with 
their points resting against the opposite door-jam, 
about the height of a man's shoulder from the floor. 
The hilts were plain, the guards like the common 
sabre guard, the handle part of dark material ; the 
blades polished till they shone like silver, with a 
golden tinge. As the man stood for a moment, the 
swords shook a little, as if held in the hand of a 
person nervous from excitement, and from them as 
they shivered, a pale, shimmering yellow light seem- 
ed to flash, or flow. 

" The man turned away with a sigh, and with a 
sad face ; the swords remained just a moment, but 
before the footsteps of the repulsed man had reach- 
ed the outer edge of the porch, they were drawn 
back apparently into the door jam itself, turning up- 
ward as if upon a hinge formed at the hilts. I 
looked the door jams all over after the swords were 
withdrawn, but there was no • sign nor trace of any 
opening in which the swords might be hid ; nor was 
there an evidence of the existence of the swords to 
be seen. 

" I turned to renew my survey of the room, and as 
my eyes became more accustomed to the peculiar 
light, I discovered new and wondrous beauty in the 
workmanship and finish of the whole. I had, as it 
seemed, come early ; for the arrivals were more fre- 
quent, the intervals between them shorter and shor- 
ter ; the room was filling up on both sides, and in 
the centre ; the dropping of the swords in either 
doorway was also more frequent, the light flashing 
from them more continuous ; while, now and then, 
from some cause, the falling of them seemed like a 
crash, as if they were clashed furiously together, at 
which the light seemed to blaze throughout the 
room and corruscate along the emblazoned imager)-* 
of cornice and column like yellow lightning. I sat 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 735 

in wonder, but not in fear, for within was complete 
quiet ; I began to contemplate the arrangements of 
the pulpit, where now a page, a lad of some sixteen 
years of age, was moving to and fro arranging some- 
thing upon the stand, the tables, and chairs. 

"A sudden loud clashing of the swords in the 
doorway just behind me, together with a vivid flash- 
ing of the strange light caused me to turn my eyes 
again in that direction ; a man was standing outside 
the doorway, with his teeth shut tightly together, 
his hands clenched, and eyes blazing with fury and 
disappointment ; before him were the crossed swords, 
quivering as if instinct with life, and endowed with 
emotion; the polished blades had changed their hue 
from the silvery, golden tinged glitter to the color of 
a golden flame, while the light that scintillated from 
them flashed over and filled the room to the re- 
motest corner, flooding seat and pillar, pulpit and 
altar, niche and statuette, picture and scroll, with its 
terrible brilliancy. • The man turned away, the 
swords were withdrawn, but in an instant he came 
towards the door quickly, and was almost in the 
room with his rigflrf foot touching the threshhold, 
when with a crash that sent the blood surging 
through my veins with the shock, the swords fell 
before him, sending a flood of flame and light over 
the room again ; he turned again away, and stepping 
back a few paces, he started toward the door the 
third time with determination, despair and fierce 
rage pictured in his face; and again those terrible 
swords, now white and glowing like molten gold, 
fell before him, striking- fire from their clashing 
crossing, shaking: the building with the fierceness 
and suddenness of their fall, and filling the doorway 
from top to bottom and from side to side with their 
quivering, eager motion, putting before the enraged 
and desperate man seeking an entrance, a wall of 
flaming swords and seeming fire. I shall never 



736 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

forget the fearful expression of baffled desire and 
helpless rage depicted In the face of the man thus 
barred out. 

" I watched him depart, and though many came, 
some coming in, some being prevented and going 
away, I saw only the one who tried more than once 
to enter. It seemed that when a person came up 
who was to come in, no stir, nor change took place 
at the door; but when some one came who was not 
to come in, the swords dropped lightly into place 
across the doorway, striking slightly together as 
they fell. If the one thus stopped from coming in, 
at once turned away, the swords were withdrawn, 
without noise or light ; but if they remained stand- 
ing, as if waiting to come in or to question why 
they were thus stopped, the blades of the swords 
would begin to blaze and quiver with motion, and 
light would begin to emit from them, similar in 
appearance to the flame from a hot, briskly blazing 
wood fire; and the longer the person stood there, 
the more energetic would be the shivering motion 
of the swords, and the more vivid and intense 
would be the light flying from them, until in some 
instances, as in the one described, the room would 
be illumined with the light, which resembled that 
which heralds the rising sun seen as it comes un- 
clouded from the shades of night ; or like the glow 
at the setting of the sun. 

" I saw some enter whom in my waking every 
day hours I knew were deemed not meet for a 
membership with the faithful ; and I saw some 
rejected who are deemed most worthy. 

" Some walked briskly in, some slowly ; none who 
entered seemed to take any heed to whether there 
was any thing to stop or hinder them ; while some 
walking slowly and gently would find their way 
barred with the crossed swords, they having fallen 
into place gently and noiselessly ; others, coming 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. J 2)7 

quickly, would be met suddenly by the fall of the 
swords with a clash and noise, as if sprung into 
place by the stroke of a nervous and impatient 
hand ; and if entrance were insisted upon, or seemed 
to be, the crossed swords began to glow, moving up 
and down, quivering as if with emotion and life, and 
lisfht would emit from them as from the burnished 
plough-share set in the sun. 

" My waking eyes have never looked upon work- 
manship so complete, so fit, so richly elaborate in 
design and finish, so profuse and yet so grandly 
harmonious as that of the room I have so poorly 
described. The outside of the building was massive 
and solid, a building only impressive because of its 
solidity and strength ; without a spire, and yet 
perfect in proportion, design and finish. 

"It faded from my sight, as sublunary things 
began to obtrude themselves upon my conscious 
being ; but the impressions made upon my mind 
will never be effaced. Well may we believe that 
the " Flaming swords that turn every way to guard 
the way of the Tree of Life," still stand as prescient 
sentinels at the open "doors of the Temple of Eter- 
nal Peace, and dispute with the fierceness of 
awakened wrath the entrance of human or devilish 
design, and work." 

The Semi-Annual Conference was again held at 
Galland's Grove. 

Connected with the " Life of Joseph the 
Prophet," nothing could be more historically rare 
than the following testimony of David Whitmer, 
the last surviving witness of the Book of Mormon. 
It was called forth by a visit to Kirtland, of Apos- 
tles Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith of the Utah 
church, to see this venerable brother for the pur- 
pose of obtaining from him the original manuscript 

47 



J38 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

of the Book of Mormon and his present testimony. 
The manuscript no money could purchase from this 
witness, but the testimony was given with all its 
original purity, notwithstanding David Whitmer 
has been separated from the Church these forty-two 
years. The date of the testimony is 1878. It was 
published in the Deseret News, and signed by 
Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith. They thus 
relate : 

" Agreeable to appointment we met Mr. Whitmer 
and his friends, at his office, but, as the place was 
too public for private conversation, and it seemed 
impossible to obtain a private personal interview 
with ' David Whitmer, by himself, we invited him 
and such of his friends as he saw proper to fetch 
along, to our room in the hotel. Mr. Whitmer 
apologized for not inviting us to his house, as it was 
" wash day," and he and his wife were " worn out " 
with the extra labor, exposure, &c, &c, consequent 
upon rebuilding since the cyclone. He accepted 
our invitation to our room, and brought with him 
James R. B. Vancleave, (a fine looking, intelligent 
young newspaper man from Chicago, who is paying 
his addresses to Miss Josephine Schweich, grand- 
daughter of David Whitmer), George Schweich, 
(grandson), John C. Whitmer, (son of Jacob), W. 
W. Warner, and another person whose name we 
did not learn. In the presence of these, the follow- 
ing, in substance, as noticed in brother Joseph F. 
Smith's journal, is the account of the interview. 

" Elder O. Pratt to David Whitmer. Can you 
tell the date of the bestowal of the Apostleship 
upon Joseph, by Peter, James and John? 

" D. W. I do not know; Joseph never told me. 
I can only tell you what I know, for I will not* 
testify to anything I do not know. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 739 

" J. F. S. to D. W. Did Oliver Cowdery die here 
in Richmond? 

" D. W. Yes, he lived here, I think, about one 
year before his death. He died in my father's 
house right here, in January, 1849. Phineas Young 
was here at the time. 

" Elder O. P. Do you remember what time you 
saw the plates? 

u D. W. It was in June, 1829 — the latter part of 
the month, and the eight witnesses saw them, I 
think, the next day or the day after (i. e. one or two 
days after). Joseph showed them the plates him- 
self, but the angel showed us (the three witnesses) 
the plates, as I suppose to fulfill the words of the 
book itself. Martin Harris was not with us this 
time, he obtained a view of them afterwards, (the 
same day.) Joseph, Oliver and myself were togeth- 
er when I saw them. We not only saw the plates 
of the Book of Mormon, but also the brass plates, 
the plates of the Book of Ether, the plates contain- 
ing- the records of the wickedness and secret com- 
binations of the people of the world down to the 
time of their being engraved, and many other plates. 
The fact is, it was just as though Joseph, Oliver and 
I were sitting just here on a log, when we were 
overshadowed by a light, it was not like the light of 
the sun nor like that of a fire, but more glorious and 
beautiful. It extended away around us, I can not 
tell how far, but in the midst of this light, about as 
far off as he sits, (pointing to John C. Whitmer, 
sitting a few feet from him), there appeared as it 
were, a table with many records or plates upon it, 
besides the plates of the Book of Mormon, also the 
Sword of Laban, the directors — i.e. the ball which 
Lehi had, and the Interpreters. I saw them just as 
plainly as I see this bed, (striking the bed beside him 
with his hand), and I heard the voice of the Lord, 
as distinctly as I ever heard anything in my life, 



74-0 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

declaring that the records of the plates of the Book 
of Mormon were translated by the gift and power 
of God. 

" Elder O. P, Did you see the Angel at this 
time? 

" D. W. Yes; he stood before us, our testimony 
as recorded in the Book of Mormon is strictly and 
absolutely true, just as it is there written. Before 
I knew Joseph, I had heard about him and the 
plates from persons who declared they knew he 
had them, and swore they would get them from him. 
When Oliver Cowdery went to Pennsylvania, he 
promised to write me what he should learn about 
these matters, which he did. He wrote me that 
Joseph had told him his secret thoughts, and all he 
had meditated about going to see him, which no 
man on earth knew, as he supposed, but himself, 
and so he stopped to write for Joseph. 

"Soon after this Joseph sent for me (D. W.) to 
come to Harmony, to get him and Oliver and bring 
them to my father's house. I did not know what 
to do, I was pressed with my work. I had about 
twenty acres to plow, so I concluded I would finish 
plowing and then go. I got up one morning to go 
to work as usual, and on going to the field, found 
between five and seven acres of my ground had been 
plowed during the night. 

" I don't know who did it ; but it was done just as 
I would have done it myself, and the plow was left 
standing in the furrow. 

" This enabled me to start sooner. When I 
arrived at Harmony, Joseph and Oliver were coming 
toward me, and met me some distance from the 
house. Oliver told me that Joseph had informed 
him when I started from home, where I had stopped 
the first night, how I read the sign at the tavern, 
where I stopped the next night, etc., and that I 
would be there that day before dinner, and this was 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 74 1 

why they had come out to meet me; all of which 
was exactly as Joseph had told Oliver, at which I 
was greatly astonished. When I was returning to 
Fayette with Joseph and Oliver, all of us riding in 
the wagon, Oliver and I on an old fashioned wood- 
en spring seat and Joseph behind us, while travel- 
ing along in a clear open place, a very pleasant, 
nice-looking old man suddenly appeared by the side 
of our wagon who saluted us with, ' Good morning; 
it is very warm/ at the same time wiping his face or 
forehead with his hand. We returned the salutation, 
and by a sign from Joseph I invited him to ride if 
he was going our way. But he said very pleasantly, 
" No, I am going to Cumorah." This name was 
something new to me, I did not know what Cumorah 
meant. We all gazed at him and at each other, 
and as I looked around enquiringly of Joseph, the 
old man instantly disappeared, so that I did not see 
him again. 

"J. F. S. Did you notice his appearance? 

" D. W. I should think I did. He was, I should 
think, about five feet eight or nine inches tall and 
heavy set, about such a man as James Vancleave 
there, but heavier, his face was as large, he was 
dressed in a suit of brown woolen clothes, his hair 
and beard were white like Brother Pratt's, but his 
beard was not so heavy. I also remember that he 
had on his back a sort of knapsack with something 
in, shaped like a book. It was the messenger who 
had the plates, who had taken them from Joseph 
just prior to our starting from Harmony. Soon 
after our arrival home I saw something which led 
me to the belief that the plates were placed or 
concealed in my father's barn. I frankly asked 
Joseph if my supposition was right, and he told me 
it was. Sometime after this, my mother was going 
to milk the cows, when she was met near the yard 
by the same old man, (judging by her description of 



742 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

him), who said to her, ' You have been very faithful 
and diligent in your labors, but you are tried because 
of the increase of your toil, it is proper therefore 
that you should receive a witness that your faith 
may be strengthened.' Thereupon he showed her 
the plates. My father and mother had a large 
family of their own, the addition to it therefore of 
Joseph, his wife Emma and Oliver very greatly 
increased the toil and anxiety of my mother. And 
although she had never complained, she had some- 
times thought that her labor was too much, or at 
least she was beginning to feel so. This circum- 
stance however, completely removed all such feel- 
ings, and nerved her up for her increased responsi- 
bilities." 



1879 



The General Annual Conference was held at 
Piano, Joseph Smith presiding, assisted by W. W. 
Blair. The report of the Secretary showed a total 
of nearly four hundred branches, established in 
twenty-nine States and Territories; and also in 
Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, Australia, Swit- 
zerland and Denmark; total of members 12,176; 
showing a net gain of members over losses during 
the year of 1,1 16. 

On the 30th of April, 1879, "Sister Emma," the 
beloved relic of the Prophet Joseph and mother of 
the President of the Reorganized Church, departed 
this life, aged seventy-five years, nine months and 
twenty-one days: a biographical sketch is given of 
her elsewhere. 




-ti^Ct^ <^i^o / //Uis>~ / 



z^ffl^ls 



-TO^Zt^L^C 



Q^/^yl^^y^- 






CHAPTER LIV. 

BIOGRAPHY OF JOSEPH SMITH EARLY INCIDENTS 

REMOVAL FROM NAUVOO AND RETURN LEAD- 
INGS TO HIS LIFE WORK CONFLICT UPON DUTY 

HOW IT WAS DETERMINED UNITING WITH 

THE REORGANIZATION RESULT. 

I was born November 6th, 1832, in Kirtland, 
Lake county, Ohio. I remember some of the 
events that transpired during the dark days of the 
trials in and exodus from Missouri. Among these 
the being thrust from the side of my father, by the 
sword of an armed guard, set without sanction of 
law to watch a prisoner held for no crime ; and a 
visit with my mother to Liberty Jail, where the 
elders lay waiting a trial their captors did not 
intend to grant. 

As pass the years of childhood to all, so passed 
the time to me ; the removal to Illinois, the cross- 
ing on the ice, the reception at the farm of Mr. 
Cleaveland, the return of my father from captivity, 
and the subsequent arrival at Commerce, are like 
the unfinished pictures of memory to me. 

With the sickly season that ensued upon the 
settlement made at Commerce, subsequently Nau- 
yoo, my active life began. At my mother's direc- 
tion and under her active ministration, I aided to 
care for those whom the malaria of the swamp. 



744 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

incident to the new country, struck down with the 
fever. Once, with a house full of fever stricken 
patients, a tent in the yard furnished shelter to 
mother and children, while with tender and sleepless 
solicitude she cared for those placed in her charge; 
father absent, and others with their hands full 
caring lor their own, left no help to her save that 
of her little boys, the oldest only able to carry 
water from the spring to cool the parched tongue 
and quench the fevered thirst. 

Better times came, so that in 1840 and 41, though 
many noble ones fell by disease, there were more 
to care for them. The town was laid out, build- 
ings sprung up as if by magic. In 1842, the Man- 
sion House was erected, and our family moved in. 

In the Fall of 1843, or Spring of 1844, the latter 
it is believed, I was baptized by my father, at the 
foot of Main street, Nauvoo. During the latter 
year, and before the death of my father and uncle 
Hyrum, I was blessed by the first, in the presence 
of quite a number of then prominent elders in the 
Church, this blessing being confirmed just prior to 
the tragedy at Carthage. 

At the death of my father, Joseph W. Coolidge 
was appointed administrator of the estate. Under 
his administration, besides the personal property 
allowed by law, there was allowed my mother $124 
per year, for the support of her family. The pri- 
vate and personal correspondence of my father, 
many books and some other matters of personal 
character were in his office in care of Willard 
Richards, and others, clerks and officials. These 
were either retained by the administrator upon his 



LIFE ©F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 745 

own responsibility; or were refused to my mothers 
demand at the direction of the Twelve; the latter 
we were at the time led to believe. 

I was now in my twelfth year, with perhaps the 
intelligence usual to boys of that age, and habits of 
observation and memory fostered by occasion and 
circumstance. In answer to repeated demands for 
my father's private papers, journal and correspond- 
ence, made by my mother, there was an invariable 
denial ; and it was only with seeming reluctance 
that some title deeds and unimportant papers were 
accorded her. 

Soon after the return to Nauvoo of Brigham 
Young, then president of the Twelve, from the east, 
it became evident that there was to be a conflict 
between Sister Emma and Elder Young. What 
personal reasons there may have been for differ- 
ences between them I do not know. 

For some cause, the Mansion was rented; Elder 

Wm. Marks, E. Rbbinson, and Johnson, 

occupying it in turn, while mother, with her family, 
occupied the old homestead, nearer to the river. 

This condition of things lasted from soon after 
father's death in 1844, till the summer of 1846. 
During this time, the effort of Sidney Rigdon to 
secure to himself the allegiance of the people of the 
Church; the stand of William Marks in his favor; 
the rejection of that claim by the Church under the 
guidance of Elder Young; the return of William 
Smith, one of the Twelve, and the subsequent 
defection of John E. Page and himself; the conflict 
of lawlessness against piety ; the death by murder, 
of Irvine Hodge; the plundering in the outside 



746 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

settlements, and the fierce hatred engendered 
against the Saints, all were taking place culmin- 
ating for disaster. 

One scene that happened before my father's 
death remains on memory's tablets, ever fresh. In 
the evening of the day that the Expositor press and 
material were destroyed, by order of the City 
Council, an act that should ever be condemned by 
good men, a crowd gathered on Main street, be- 
tween the Mansion and the City Hotel, nearly 
opposite the residence at one time occupied by 
Sidney Rigdon, and among them was the Mayor, 
my father. Curious as others I ventured near 
them, and at a lull in the noise and confused mur- 
mur of voices, I heard my father's voice, measured 
and clear, " Whatever you may think about it, you 
have this day made me do, in my official capacity 
as your officer, an act that I believe we shall all be 
sorry for, and that will make us great trouble here- 
after." I am satisfied now, looking over the matter 
from the standpoint of matured manhood, that he 
was then convinced that the counsel to destroy the 
press was bad, and that such a desecration of the 
rights of others must result in distress, sorrow and 
regret. Who were with him on that occasion I do 
not know; there were thirty or forty, I should 
think, as I now remember the appearance of the 
crowd. 

Sometime in the Summer of 1845, or possibly in 
the Fall, mother was made aware that she was an 
object of suspicion to the leading element of the 
Church; and that a watch was set over herself and 
her household. Persons visiting her house were 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 747 

watched and their footsteps dogged; some were 
turned away from her door, without being permit- 
ted to hold communication with the household ; 
and upon one occasion a man, a friend, was assault- 
ed, and but for his resolute defense of himself, 
would have suffered severely. At one time, word 
was sent her to vacate her home, and that if she 
remained in it after the expiration of three days it 
should be burned over her head. Who were re- 
sponsible for these threats I do not know; suffice 
it to state that the city was at that time still in the 
hands of the Church; its police regulations under 
the charge of Elder Young and the Twelve. 

For us, however, flight was out of the question ; 
my mother, now resting in the quiet of the just, 
gathered her children unto her, and sitting down 
with them around her, explained to them the dan- 
ger she and they were in, and charged them what 
to do in case the worst came ; and after kneeling 
with them in prayer commending them to God, all 
lay down to sleep. The dreaded night passed, — 
and the old house still stands unharmed by fire. 

As an indication of the spirit of preparation that 
had seized the people, sometime during the summer 
of 1845, Elder Brigham Young presented me with 
a pistol, a single barrel affair, with the hammer, and 
trigger without a guard, on the under side of it; a 
rather dangerous plaything with which I came near 
killing myself by its prematurely discharging itself. 
Cousin George A. Smith, learning that Elder 
Young had furnished me with a pistol, gave me a 
huge bowie knife, that I might be fully armed. 
The incongruity manifest in the gift of these weap- 



748 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

ons from my religious superiors, those who had 
expressed themselves interested in my spiritual 
well-being, did not strike me until I began casting 
about me for a use for the knife, when it occurred 
to me. I then offered the knife to my mother, for 
kitchen use; but she remarked that she would 
"rather have one of John Huntington's rolling 
pins." This John Huntington was a genius of a 
lad, brother to Dimic and William Huntington, and 
Zina D. Jacobs, whose father had married the 
widow of Bishop Edward Partridge, who had 
erected a lathe and was turning and selling such 
things as housewives needed. Acting upon her 
wish I traded my bowie to him for a cherry rolling 
pin for my mother, which remained in use in my 
mother's kitchen during the rest of her life. My 
mother would not allow me to use the pistol after 
the accidental discharge referred to, and it was 
afterwards disposed of to more careful hands. In 
strong contrast to these gifts, was the mark of 
affection given me by Bishflp N. K. Whitney, who 
bade me come to his house one day and presented 
me with his writing desk, a valuable and consistent 
gift, the " pen " being " mightier than the sword." 

All through this year, the preparations for the 
exodus of 1846 went on. The farm stock that was 
left by my father in the care of Cornelius P. Lott, 
sickened and died; the lines of supervision laid 
round my mother and her family by her self-consti- 
tuted watchmen grew closer and more offensive. 
Her opinion in reference to the policy of the lead- 
ing men began to be known; the word " apostate," 
was heard coupled with Sister Emma's name; the 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 749 

intolerance of bigotry, long complained of by the 
Church as exhibited towards the elders preaching 
abroad, found lodgement in the city and raged with 
rabid venom against the "apostate" and recalci- 
trant ; all those who dared to express an opinion 
not in strict accord with the rulers, were ostracised. 
One instance of this sort, witnessed by me, made a 
life-long impression upon me. Elder Austin 
Cowles, than whom a firmer friend to Joseph Smith 
while he was living - could not be found, visited the 
city. Upon being asked his opinion of certain 
things which had been taught, he expressed himself 
freely in disapproval. His words were noted, and 
soon after he was waited upon by a guard of some 
thirty young men and boys, who followed him the 
whole of the day, urging him from place to place, 
annoying him by whistling, and whittling towards 
him with wicked looking knives; saving nothing to 
him, except to tell him to move on when he stop- 
ped to speak to any one. I saw him in the after- 
noon about four o'clock, when despairing of honor- 
able entreatment from his before time brethren, 
'broken down with infirmitv, and stricken with grief, 
lie had turned his face from the city and was going 
to the ferry to cross the river. I spoke to him, 
when his escort struck up their din of whistling and 
whittling, hustling the poor old man with the ends 
of broken boards and the sticks they were whittling. 
I remonstrated with them for thus using him ; but 
to no purpose, they were only the more offensive; 
so with tears of pain in the eyes of the old man, 
and tears of indignation in mine, we parted, never 
tc; meet again. May God soon send the day when 



750 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the curse of intolerance may be known no more in 
the land. 

Events rapidly culminated during the Fall and 
Winter of 1845 and 46. The Church had been 
actively engaged at work upon the Temple and 
Nauvoo House. The Temple Committee and 
Nauvoo House Association kept at their work, 
determined to build those houses, before being - 
compelled to leave, and it does not appear that 
any serious intention to remove was entertained, 
except as a possibility, until the Fall of 1845 an d 
Winter following. Then it was made certain 
that there would be a removal. 

In the Spring of 1846, the new citizens began 
coming in, and formed with those who dared 
remain, and citizens not Mormons but favorable to 
them called Jack Mormons, a body averse to the 
sacking of the city by a mob. The Mansion 
House was rented to a new citizen whose name 
was Van Tuyl, mother rightly thinking that her 
property would be safer in case of an invasion if 
the incumbent were one not in sympathy with the 
outgoing host. The Summer of 1846 was a trying 
one. The first detachment of driven Saints had 
gone; and as fast as those remaining could get 
away they were doing so. The new citizens were 
constantly in alarm; messages were being sent to 
and from the state authorities, the citizens and the 
exasperated mob ; the city was put under martial 
law and the time dragged wearily along. In Sep- 
tember it became evident that an invasion would 
take place, and being advised to flee with her 
family, to escape if danger should be found to hgr- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 75 1 

self and family, on the 12th of September, 1846, 
mother embarked on the Uncle Toby, Captain 
Grimes, commander, accompanied by the families of 
Loren Walker and Wesley Knight, Angeline and 
Nancy Carter, Savilla Durfee and William Clapp. 
It was rumored that the Uncle Toby would not be 
permitted to land at the upper landing on her 
upward trip ; but Captain Grimes was a brave and 
humane man, and landed his boat, suffered all who 
wished to come on board that they might get away 
from the doomed city ; and when the last one who 
could had accepted his offer to carry them away 
had come on board, the good steamer plowed her 
way up the " father of waters," dropping the refu- 
gees at every landing place. Mother, with her 
group of dependents, landed at Fulton City, 
Whitesides county, at which place not long after, 
Loren Walker and Wesley Knight arrived with the 
teams overland from Nauvoo. Mother rented a 
house just in the edge of town, and after a visit to 
Mrs. Wasson, her sister, at Dixon, the three famil- 
ies settled down for the winter together, mutual 
misfortunes making them mutually dependent. 
The Carter girls, and Miss Durfee sought and 
obtained employment in the families of the neigh- 
borhood, and after a time William Clapp married 
Nancy Carter and returned to Nauvoo, and became 
the landlord of the City Hotel. 

In the Winter of 1845 an< ^ 4-6, mother received 
letters from Dr. Bernhisel and some others, that her 
tenant, Mr. Van Tuyl, was making preparations to 
leave the city in the Spring and was intending to 
take with him the furniture of the hotel rented of 



752 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

mother. To forestall and prevent this robbery, 
mother resolved to make the overland journey 
before the river should open, and with her children 
and Loren Walker drove up to the door of the 
Mansion House in the afternoon of the 19th of 
February, 1847. Her coming disconcerted the 
plans of Mr. Van Tuyl, and within two weeks 
mother was installed as landlady of the Mansion 
House, losing a few bedsteads and bedding, some 
table furniture, chamber linen, and her rental dues. 
It was, under the circumstances, a daring thing for 
mother to do; but as she expressed it, All that she 
had was her home; she h^d no friends greater than 
her God. She knew no reason why she should not 
live in her home. She would not stultify her faith 
and her womanhood by submitting to the rule of 
Brigham Young. She had been vilified and har- 
assed by those who should have been her friends, 
because she dared herself to defy oppression and 
denounce wrong, and to counsel others to do the 
same thing. Her husbands last counsel to her was 
to keep her children together; to remain in her 
home, or somewhere near it, and wait the termin- 
ation of events. This counsel she thought she 
ought to heed, and determined to attempt it. One 
event that transpired either in 1846 or 1847, I 
incline to the latter, rather confirmed than weaken- 
ed this determination to thus keep the counsel of 
her husband's last hours with her. A trusted mem- 
ber of the Church, in the active discharge of 
secular duties, imposed by appointment from the 
Twelve, waited upon mother to ascertain what her 
feelings were in reference to following the Church 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. , 753 

west. She informed him that she thought she 
would not go. He laid before her the blessings of 
aid, association and spiritual advantages to be 
obtained by so following the Church. To these 
she urged her views, objections and knowledge. 
The elder, whose name I refrain from giving, be- 
cause he sleeps in the grave where he was sent by 
the hands of assassins, either losing his temper, or 
following his instructions, finally stated to her that 
it had been decided to offer her an opportunity to 
go ; and that if she refused, it was " decided to 
make her so poor that she would be glad to beg 
pardon of the Twelve and follow them; and," add- 
ed he, " I have been selected as the one to do it, 
and I will do it." To this mother replied that it 
was possibly in the power of the Twelve to perse- 
cute her and to force her from poverty to follow 
them; but that she would not voluntarily go. 

She did not at that, time, nor did she afterward 
have reason to doubt, that the love the Twelve 
bore to her and her family was of that character 
that if they could have compelled her to accept 
their favors and their protection, at the price of her 
faith and womanly dignity, they would have done 
what they dared to do to bring it to pass; and she 
had reason to know that he who, as their messen- 
ger and agent, had dared to threaten her, w r as fully 
equal to the task assigned him — a good man in a 
good cause, an efficient one in a bad cause. Moth- 
er, grand in her independence of thought and 
character, gravely weighed the situation and dared 
the issue; and though she died unblest in life or 
death with the luxuries of competency or wealth, 

48 



754 LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

she died herself and her sons untrammeled and 
uncursed from the tyranny of priestly rule and 
domination. She was not yet "so poor" that she 
had "begged pardon," or followed the Twelve, 
whose rule she believed to be destructive, whose 
doctrine she believed to be corrupting and false, 
and whose oppression and tyranny she hated and 
opposed. She outlived President Young, and 
when she died, a city wept as for a friend departed. 

An incident occurred while we were living at 
Fulton City, that ought to be noticed. One night 
while in attendance at a young folks' party, at the 
hotel of a Mr. Johnson, I was requested to meet 
two gentlemen, just arrived. Upon being shown 
into their presence they proved to be Elder Wm. 
Marks and James J. Strang. After a moment's 
chat we separated, promising to meet again. They 
preached a night or two after at the house of a Mr. 
Baker, from which meeting I was excused owing to 
a severe earache. They visited the house and 
chatted with mother, but held no further communi- 
cation with me. It has been alleged by some that 
Mr. Strang at this visit, ordained me, and that he 
so reported 'on his return to his home. If this was 
done by him at all, it was done when I was uncon- 
scious, and unknown to Bro. Marks, and to all the 
inmates of mother's house. I feel therefore, per- 
fectly safe in saying that he did not. I mention 
this, because some, even at this late day suppose 
that the right by which I am an elder in the 
Churh is by virtue of that ordination. 

In December, 1847, mother was married to 
Major L. C. Bidamon, one of the new citizens, a 



• LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 755 

man who had been active in the defense of the city, 
and who had traded into the ownership of consid- 
erable amount of the property offered for sale by 
the outgoing Saints, and who was in a small dry 
goods trade with a Mr. Hartwell of Philadelphia. 
I clerked in his store for a part of the time till the 
next summer, when mother put for me a few hun- 
dred dollars into a mercantile venture with the 
Major's goods, and placing them in the old brick 
store, beean life as a merchant. This venture was 
an unfortunate one; the stand was out of the way, 
and cash and goods were soon absorbed. In the 
Spring of 1849 tne Major left for the gold mines of 
California; the farm was rented and things went 
on much after the usual method of things earthly. 

In 1850 Mr. Bidamon returned from California. 
The tenant on the farm Mr. Benjamin Rucker, had 
violated his lease ; and Mr. Bidamon and himself 
had some legal difficulty in reference to the rent 
finally settled by arbitration. In this I was mixed 
up as a principal witness and participator in dis- 
training for rent. In 1852 my brothers and myself 
undertook to work the farm, under the direction of 
our step-father. In this labor I continued till the 
beginning of the railway in 1853, when at the 
solicitation and under the management of Major 
Bidamon, I subcontracted to erade a half mile of 
the Warsaw and Rockford railroad. In this work 
I spent the Summer and Fall and eight hundred 
dollars cash, through the failure of the original con- 
tractors, and mismanagement. My summer's work 
and the expenditure of the money gave me returns 
as follows: one alpaca coat S4.00, $2.50 cash, an 



756 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

iron crow-bar and a log chain, all valued at about 
$12.00. 

The summer of 1853 was an eventful one to me. 
The season was uncommonly hot and dry; the 
harvest was long and the work hard ; during it, or 
rather just at its close, I fell ill from an attack of 
billious or intermittent fever. So severe was this 
attack that I lost thirty-three pounds weight in a 
fortnight's time. Just at my convalescence I was 
visited by a Mr. Fred Piercy, then traveling getting 
up the illustrations for "The Route to Utah," a 
large work upon the Mormon Exodus from Nau- 
voo, and settlement in Deseret ; and it was during 
this visit that he took the crayon picture of me 
that is found in that work. 

It was during this Summer and Fall that I had 
the first serious impressions concerning my connec- 
tion with the work of my father. That Spring, if 
my memory is correct, there was a large emigration 
to Utah; a part of which was camped at Keokuk, 
twelve miles below Nauvoo, on the Iowa side of 
the Mississippi rivei; A delegation of them visited 
Nauvoo, and with one of them, whose name if I 
learned it, I do not now remember, I had a long 
conversation respecting Mormonism. I had talked 
with many upon the matter; but ha/1 never taken 
the subject into very earnest consideration. This 
person urged that I was possibly doing a great 
wrong in allowing the years to pass by unimproved. 
I stated to him that I was ready to do any work 
that might fall to my lot, or that I might be called 
to do. I had no fellowship with the leadership in 
the Salt Lake church, and could not then give my 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET, 757 

sanction to things there; my prejudices were 
against them. In the Summer and Fall several 
things occurred that served to bring the question 
up ; my sickness brought me near to death ; my 
coming of age, and my choice of a profession were 
all coincident events; and during my recovery I 
had opportunity for reflection, as for weeks I could 
do no work. One day, after my return to health 
was assured, I had lain down to rest in my room; 
the window was open to the south and the fresh 
breeze swept in through the trees and half closed 
blinds, I had slept and woke refreshed; my mind 
recurred to the question of my future life and what 
its work should be. I had been and was still, read- 
ing law under the care of a lawyer named William 
McLennan, and it was partially decided that I 
should continue that study. While weighing my 
desires and capabilities for this work, the question 
came up, Will I eyer have anything to do with 
Mormonism? If so, how and what will it be? I 
was impressed that there was truth in the work my 
father had done. I believed the gospel so far as I 
comprehended it. Was I to have no part in that 
work as left by him? While engaged in this con- 
templation and perplexed by these recurring ques- 
tions, the room suddenly expanded and passed 
away. I saw stretched out before me towns, cities, 
busy marts, court houses, courts and assemblies of 
men, all busy and all marked by those character- 
istics that are found in the world, where men win 
place and renown. This stayed before my vision 
till I had noted clearly that choice of preferment 
here was offered to him who would enter in, but 



758 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

who did so must go into the busy whirl and be 
submerged by its din, bustle and confusion. In the 
subtle transition of a dream I was gazing over a 
wide expanse of country in a prairie land; no 
mountains were to be seen, but far as the eye could 
reach, hill 1 and dale, hamlet and village, farm and 
farm house, pleasant cot and home-like place, every- 
where betokening thrift, industry and the pursuits 
of a happy peace were open to the view. I remark- 
ed to him standing by me, but whose presence I 
had not before noticed, "This must be the country 
of a happy people." To this he replied, " Which 
would you prefer, life, success and renown among 
the busy scenes that you first saw; or a place 
among these people, without honors or renown? 
Think of it well, for the choice will be offered to 
you sooner or later, and you must be prepared to 
decide. Your decision once made you can not 
recall it, and must abide the result." 

No time was given me for a reply, for as sudden- 
ly as it had come, so suddenly was it gone, and I 
found myself sitting upright on the side of the bed 
where I had been lying, the rays of the declining 
sun shinine athwart the western hills and over the 
shimmering river, making the afternoon all glor- 
ious with their splendor, shone into my room 
instinct with life and motion, filling me with glad- 
ness that I should live-. From that hour, at leisure, 
at work or play, I kept before me what had been 
presented, and was at length prepared to answer 
when the opportunity for the choice should be given. 

I pursued my legal studies at intervals with other 
reading, some of it solid and meritorious and some 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 759 

of it worthless, without any further thing of note 
occurring to bring the matter up again till some- 
time in the early part of the winter of 1855, I think, 
when William Walker, an Elder from Utah, on his 
way from Utah to Cape Good Hope, called on me. 
I had known him when I was a boy. He worked 
for my father, and I think was engaged in teaming 
at the time of father's death, having that year mar- 
ried a Miss Olive Farr, and living at the Mansion. 
With him I had the first serious disagreement about 
polygamy. It is not needful here to repeat the dis- 
pute ; he affirmed, I denied. 

In January of 1855 I went to Canton, Illinois, 
there to prosecute my study of the law in the office 
of Hon. William Kellogg, at that time an able and 
influential lawyer of Fulton County. I remained 
here the better part of a year, visiting home in the 
spring and being present at the death of Grand- 
mother Smith in May. In June I was chosen clerk 
of the City Council, and was also employed by 
Postmaster Parley C. Stearns in the post office, to 
fill his place when legal duties called him away. 
During my stay I boarded part of the time at Chris- 
tian Bidamon's, a brother to my step-father, and 
the remainder with Abel H. White, whose wife was 
a sister to the Major, my step-father. I made many 
friends during my stay in Canton, who still express 
themselves warmly towards me. 

I returned home in 1856, owing to the want of 
means to continue my studies at Canton, and be- 
gan farm life with my brother Frederick as my 
partner. October 2 2d of this year I was married to 
Miss Emaline Griswold, the daughter of the widow 



760 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

of Elias Griswold, who had moved into Nauvoo soon 
after the Saints had left, and who had afterwards 
died while in Texas on a business venture there. 
Some of her friends had tried to induce her not 
to comply with her contract to marry me, but 
failed ; and, on the evening of that day, left alone by 
her every relative, in the presence of Mathew Wald- 
enmeyer, a Presbyterian clergyman she pledged her- 
self to me in marriage. 

In the fall of this year three events transpired 
that had much to do with deciding my course re- 
ligiously and aiding me to answer the question, 
What part in my fathers work, if any I was to take. 
For a number of years I had been more or less in- 
timate with the family of Christopher E. Yates, a 
friend to the Saints, who at the time of the distur- 
bances in Hancock County, for his outspoken de- 
nunciation of mob violence and mob law, had suf- 
fered the loss of a fine barn, a lot of grain, hay and 
a number of horses by fire, set by incendiaries out 
of revenge as it is supposed, and who had removed 
with other citizens into Nauvoo and bought proper- 
ty there. With one of his sons, Putnam, circum- 
stances had made me well acquainted. He had 
crossed the plains a number of times, had been in 
Salt Lake City and other parts of Utah, and in Cali- 
fornia. He and I had frequently discussed Mormon- 
ism, that is, some parts of it, and he had persistently 
insisted that I could do a great and an excellent 
work by going to Utah, and as he put it, "Taking 
the lead away from Brigham; breaking up that sys- 
tem of things there," or to "fall in with the style of 
things there become a leader, get rich, marry three 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 761 

or four wives and enjoy yourself." Though not a 
religious man himself, he thought it might be a duty, 
that I owed the people of Utah. He further 
thought, that from his experience in Utah, and the 
expressions he had heard among the people there, 
that I would be received with open arms and could 
succeed. 

To this I replied as best I could, until the ques- 
tion, Why not go to Utah ? There are the men 
who were with my father, or a great many of them. 
There, a large part of the family ; there, also, seem 
to be the only ones making profession of belief in 
Mormonism who appear to be doing anything. 
Does not duty demand that I go there and clear my 
name and honor of the charge of ingratitude to my 
father's character ? Is not polygamy, against which 
you object, a correct tenet? Is not your objection 
one of prejudice only? These and a thousand 
others of similar import were suggested, and added 
their weight to the difficulty of the situation. In 
the height of it, the words suggested to one who 
had gone before me came to me with force ; "If 
any lack wisdom, let him ask of God." Why not I ? 
Was I not in a position to need wisdom ? And was 
I not destitute of sufficient to enable me to properly 
decide. I had for three or four years been investi- 
gating spiritual phenomena ; had read some of the 
productions of Andrew J. Davis; had also read a 
little of Dr. Emanuel Swedenborg's philosophy ; 
but I found no good in Spiritualism ; the phenomena 
were physical and gross ; no response from the de- 
parted spirits of any of the family, though severally 
appealed to in turn ever came ; and the manifes- 



762 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

tations though strange and material were altogether 
inadequate for the deductions spiritists drew from 
them. I did not give credence to the philosophy. 
My human intelligence was at fault, I could not de- 
cide. I believed that He who had enabled my 
father to decide which of all should receive his at- 
tention, could, if he would, enable me to decide 
whether I should, or should not, have anything to do 
with Mormonism ; and if so, what. I proceeded 
upon this conclusion. 

A year or two before this we had raised an ex- 
cellent crop of wheat, upon a piece of land lying in 
the south of our meadow, and this man Yates had 
assisted in doing some of the work. While engaged 
in it we had some conversation about Utah. After 
this, I did not see him for some months. One day, 
while pondering these questions, (and here, unlike 
some, I can not certainly state whether morn, or 
even, only that the sun was shining), I suddenly 
found myself sowing this piece of land to wheat. 
My brother and this Mr. Yates I saw harrowing 
the wheat after my sowing. In passing over the 
land I met Mr. Yates as he drove to and fro, and 
our conversation was upon this Utah subject ; and 
the same arguments and statements were repeated 
by him. To these I was urging again my reluctance 
to move, and the question was again presented, 
Why not go to Utah ? I paused, rested the bag of 
grain that I was carrying across my shoulder, upon 
my knee, and turned to answer him. I heard a 
slight noise like the rush of the breeze, that arrested 
my speech and my attention. I turned my gaze 
slightly upward and saw descending towards me a 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 763 

sort of cloud, funnel shaped with the wide part up- 
ward. It was luminous, and of such color and 
brightness that it was clearly seen, though the sun 
shone in its summer strength. It descended rapidly 
and settling upon and over me enveloped me com- 
pletely,so that I stood within its radiance. 

As the cloud rested upon the ground at my feet, 
the words " Because the light in which you stand is 
greater than theirs," sounded in my ears clearly and 
distinctly. Slowly the cloud passed away and the 
vision closed. A few days after this occurred I met 
this man Putnam Yates, and had a conversation 
with him in which he again urged upon me the idea 
of going to Utah ; and my answer was in exact ac- 
cordance with what I had seen. The other ques- 
tion, "Is polygamy of God?" was as distinctly and 
definitely answered to me, as was the one referred 
to above ; and the answer was, " No," and I was 
directed that I was to have nothing to do with it, 
but was to oppose it. 

Much of my opposition to polygamy has been 
charged to my mother's teaching and influence. 
Mother's influence may have had something to do 
with controlling my youth ; but she did not trouble 
herself to teach me anything specially in regard to 
that tenet. I knew what she had said at times to 
others, and that she was opposed to it. I never 
questioned her upon the subject until near the close 
of her life. I relied upon what was given me con- 
cerning my own action in the premises, and trusted 
to my own judgment upon the records of the Church 
as published. I heard her replies to questions put 
by Elder Jason W. Briggs before his mission to 



764 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

England ; and interpreted the events of my child- 
hood, remembered by me, in the light of the record. 

The question of my going to Utah in order to fill 
the destiny appointed me was now disposed of, and 
I was prepared for two events that occurred subse- 
quently to what is ht>r>(* related. 

A week after my marriage my wife went with me 
to the farm and here we began our married life. 
We had hardly been settled more than a month 
when I was visited by George A. Smith and Erastus 
Snow. They came to visit and chat with me, and 
to discharge a commission entrusted to them by Mr. 
Fred Piercy, the artist to whom I had sat for a 
crayon sketch for his work ' 'Route to Salt Lake," re- 
ferred to elsewhere ; he had sent me a copy of that 
work by them. I made them as welcome as my 
means permitted, set before them something to eat, 
and did my best to answer their inquiries and enter- 
tain them. Elder George A. talked but little, leav- 
ing the burden of conversation to Elder Snow. I 
was at this visit asked if I did not intend to come 
to Utah to see them there, the question being sup- 
plemented by the statement that they were looking 
for me to come ; that I had many friends there, who 
had been friends to my father ; that they thought I 
ought to be with them, and felt a great desire to see 
me among them. 

To this I replied that I might some day visit 
them when a railway was completed that I could go 
and come without let, or hindrance. 

"But," said Elder Snow, "we want you to come 
and stay." In reply to this I stated that " I could 
not do that in the sense conveyed, so long as such 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 765 

things were taught and practiced there as I had 
reason to believe were taught and practiced." 

"You refer to plurality," said Elder Snow; and I 
answered him, ,l Yes. I refer to the doctrine of 
polygamy as it is called in the states." 

" Why, you believe in the Book of Mormon ; do 
you not?" inquired Elder Smith. 

I replied to him, " I believe in the book ; but do 
not believe the construction that you Utah people 
put upon it." 

Other conversation took place of a general char- 
acter, mainly between Elder Snow and myself, 
until thev left, the interview lasting- some two and a 
half or three hours. 

Xot more than three or four weeks elapsed after 
the visit of Elders Snow and Smith when I was 
visited by Elders Samuel H. Gurley and Edmund 
C. Briefs, sent as delegates from the Reorganized 
Church at Zarahemla v Wisconsin, with a commis- 
sion to deliver what they believed to be the word 
of the Lord to me : 

"THE CHURCH IN ZARAHEMLA, WISCONSIN. 
TO JOSEPH SMITH. 

" Our faith is not unknown to you, neither our 
hope in the re-gathering of the pure in heart en- 
thralled in darkness, together with the means, to 
the accomplishment of the same, viz : that the 
seed of him. to whom the work was first committed 
should stand forth and bear the responsibility | as 
well as wear the crown | of a wise master builder — 
to close up the breach, and to combine in one a 
host, who. though in captivity and sorely tried, still 
refuse to strengthen the hands of usurpers. As 
that seed, to whom pertains this right, and Heaven 



766 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

appointed duty, you can not be unmindful nor in- 
different. The God of Abram, Isaac and Jacob 
covenanted with them and their seed. So the God 
of Joseph covenanted with him and his seed, that, 
his word should not depart out of his mouth nor 
out of the mouth of his seed, nor out of the mouth 
of his seed's seed, till the end come. A Zerubbabel 
in Israel art thou. As a nail fastened in a sure 
place, so are the promises unto thee to make thee a 
restorer in Zion : — to set in order the house of God. 
And the Holy Spirit that searcheth the deep things 
of God, hath signified to us that the time has come. 
For, through fasting and prayer, hath the answer 
from God come ; unto us saying, Communicate with 
my servant Joseph Smith, son of Joseph the Prophet. 
Arise, call upon God and be strong, for a deliverer 
art thou to the Latter Day Saints. And the Holy 
Spirit is thy prompter. The Apostles, Elders and 
Saints who have assembled with us, have beheld 
the vacant seat and the seed that is wanting. And 
like Ezra of old with his brethren, by the direction 
of the Holy Spirit have we sent faithful messengers 
to bear this our message to you, trusting that you 
will by their hands notify us of your readiness to 
occupy that seat, and answer to the name and duties 
of that seed. For this have our prayers been 
offered up without ceasing for the last five years. 
We are assured that the same Spirit that has testi- 
fied to us, has signified the same things to you. 
Many have arisen perverting the work of the Lord. 
But the good and the true are throughout the land 
waiting the true successor of Joseph the Prophet, 
as president of the Church and of the Priesthood. 
In our publicatiens — sent to you — we have shown 
the right of successorship to rest in the literal 
descendent of the chosen seed, to whom the promise. 
was made, and also the manner of ordination thereto. 
We can not forbear reminding you that the com- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 767 

mandments, as well as the promises given to Joseph, 
your father, were given to him, and to his seed. 
And in the name of our master, even Jesus Christ, 
as moved upon by the Holy Ghost we say, Arise in 
the strength of the Lord and realize those promises 
by executing those commandments. And we, by 
the grace of God are thy helpers in restoring the 
exiled sons and daughters of Zion to their inheri- 
tances in the kingdom of God and to the faith once 
delivered to the Saints. 

" Holding fast that which is good and resisting 
evil we invoke the blessings of the God of Israel 
upon thee and upon all Saints. For whom we will 

ever pray. u T w ^ 

r y "J. W . Briggs, 

"Representative President of the Church and the 
Priesthood in Zarahemla. 
"Zarahemla, November 18th, 1856." 

The reception that these brethren met with was 
not a nattering one. Elder Gurley stated their 
mission, and presented the document containing 
the message to me. I heard what he had to say; I 
read the message that they brought, but could not 
accept it as they 'had hoped. It was not to me the 
word of the Lord. Elder Briggs vehemently urged 
the matter upon me; and announced the culmin- 
ation of the message in tones of thunder, and 
almost dictatorially directed me to accept the mes- 
sage, and do as directed therein; or reject it at my 
peril. 

I met this vehemence indignantly, and almost 
turned these messengers out of doors. But, 
through the calmer, humbler efforts of Elder Gur- 
ley and the interposition of my wife, the storm 
abated ; I invited them to stay over night, and that 
when the morning came, I would accompany them 



768 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

to town and would then give them a final answer. 
In the morning I went with them to Nauvoo, intro- 
duced them to my mother and step-father, went 
with them into a room, where quietly and peace- 
ably, Elder Gurley and I talked the situation over. 
I gave them my answer which was this. What 
they came to bring might be the word of the Lord ; 
I could not say that it was not. I had, however, no 
testimony that it was. That I was prepared to do 
what God required of me, if he would make it 
known to me what it was. That I believed that he 
could reveal himself if he would. That I believed 
that my father was called of God to do a work; 
and that I was satisfied that that work was true, 
whether I ever had anything to do with it or not. 
That I did not then know whether I should ever 
be called to take any part in that work; but that if 
I were, I was ready, and that it would have to be 
made clear to me, in person, as well as to others 
what that work was; that I could not move upon 
the evidence given to others only. That they 
might be assured that I should not go to Salt Lake 
to affiliate with them there. And finally, that if it 
should be made clear to me that it was my duty to 
cast the fortunes of my life and my labor with the 
work and the people that they were representing, I 
should without hesitation do it, but that I could 
not then do so. Upon this understanding we part- 
ed, Elder Gurley returning to report the result of 
their mission; Elder Briggs declining to accom- 
pany him home, for reasons known to himself; and 
I to my farmer's work. Elder Briggs stopped in 
the city and neighborhood for nearly a year, work- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 769 

ed for me a part of the time, and returned at his 
leisure. 

My brother Frederick and myself continued our 
farming together; but the seasons were disastrous. 
My brother married a Miss Alice Jones in 1857, 
and his family took the place of mine on the farm; 
my wife's confinement on July 28th with our 
daughter Emma Josepha, being followed by a long 
and serious illness which continued till the cold 
weather set in. The Winter months of 1857 and 8 
were spent by my wife and self at my mother's 
house, and in the Spring of 1858 we removed into 
the old homestead, the house first purchased by my 
father in 1839, on what was called the Hugh White 
farm. That same Spring I was chosen one of the 
justices of the peace for Nauvoo township, and 
found my legal reading of avail. I remained here 
in the old home during the remainder of my stay in 
Nauvoo. 

The disastrous seasons of 1856 and 1857 had 
exhausted what little my brother and myself had, 
and left us destitute of means and in debt. I drew 
out of the farm, my brother and I dissolved our 
partnership, he went into a business enterprise in 
the employ of a Mr. Brigham, on the road between 
Keokuk and Montrose, Iowa, and I kept soul and 
body together by labor and my fees as justice of 
the peace. 

It may be well here to mention that but a short 
time after the Saints left Nauvoo, while Joseph W. 
Coolidge was administrator of the estate of Joseph. 
Smith, deceased, a suit at law was commenced 
against the estate of Joseph Smith, and his heirs, in 

49 



770 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

the Circuit Court of Hancock County, Illinois, to 
recover payment of certain notes given by others, 
with Joseph Smith as security ; said notes being in 
the hands of a Mr. Phineas Kimball, heir at law, 
devisee, or agent of a Mr. Granger; and which we 
had believed we had reason to think had been paid, 
or their payment provided for by my father before 
his death. In the prosecution of this suit all the 
property that had been left to my mother and her 
children, together with a large amount of other 
property owned by him at different times, and to 
which the titles of conveyance from him appeared 
to be, or were defective, because of mismanagement 
in recording or failing to record in the County re- 
cords, became involved ; and, as I believe, but for 
the untiring friendship of George Edmunds, jr., a 
lawyer of repute in the county, and who was at one 
time of the firm of Babbitt and Edmunds, (Almon 
W. Babbitt), and his unflinching determination, we 
would have been stripped ; but, through his means, 
nearly all that we could rightfully claim as indis- 
putably ours was saved to us, a hundred acres of a 
farm near what is now Hamilton, which were taken 
by Mr. Kimball in compromise of part of the claim, 
excepted. It must not be supposed that the estate 
left to us was a large one, some town property, in- 
cluding the Mansion House and barn, the old home- 
stead, an hundred and forty acre farm three miles 
east of Nauvoo and the one hundred and thirty- 
seven acres, after the compromise, near Keokuk, 
partially improved. During the unsettled condition 
of affairs between 1844 and 1847, tne ^ arm east °f 
Nauvoo, had been impoverished by bad farming, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. JJl 

and one Clarkson, a new citizen to whom it had 
been rented, had burned and sold the fences till it 
was stripped of protection. The country after the 
Mormons left was worse than a new one ; the tenure 
of personal property was uncertain ; produce was 
scarcely worth the gathering ; prices rating like the 
following: eggs, three cents per dozen; corn, six 
and a quarter cents per bushel ; oats, ten cents ; 
pork, one and a half cents per pound ; beef, two and 
a half and three cents, and other things in propor- 
tion. Money was scarce. The moral tone of so- 
ciety was destroyed; in fact, from 1845 to 1S50— 1 
there was a far worse condition of things in the 
city of Xauvoo, Hancock and surrounding counties 
in Illinois, the counties adjacent in Iowa, than 
when the county of Hancock held twenty-five thous- 
and Mormons. Thieves were abundant and infested 
the country like a plague ; riot and lawlessness held 
the reins ; and we with others were compelled to 
live under this condition of things. 

The keeping of the hotel, the entertaining of man 
and beast at the Mansion, was the means by which 
my mother maintained herself and household dur- 
ing all those dark and cloudy days. 

After my mother's marriage to Major Bidamon, 
our manner of life changed but little. Y\ e still con- 
tinued to keep the hotel ; the new citizens tried 
hard to rescue the city from the blight that had 
fallen upon it ; the Church property was sold to the 
Icarian community, who moved in under [Monsieur 
Cabet, and set up a system of communism, that 
ultimately faded out at the death of Air. Cabet. 
The temple, rented before its sale to a company to 



772 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

be used as a Normal school, was burned October 
8th, 1848, as it was and is yet believed at the insti- 
gation of jealous property holders of adjacent towns. 
Scheme after scheme originating with the new citi- 
zens to attract attention from abroad, and intended 
to build up the place failed ; the participants, many 
of them left the old town to its fate, while others 
remained to try again and again, growing poorer 
and less able at each attempt, until they wore out 
energy and means. From a busy city of 20,000, it 
descended the scale, until in 1858 and 9 it rated less 
than 1500, a scattered hamlet, its ruling population 
Germans, Prussians, Austrians, French and Irish- 
Several men of enterprise came, but they hopelessly 
sunk their capital, that melted away like ice before 
the sun, and left them powerless to do what they 
desired — the fates were against them. 

During the year 1859 tne question of my connec- 
tion with my father's work was finally determined. 
I became satisfied that it was my duty. The 
queries heretofore referred to were one by one 
being settled; until the final one, where and with 
whom should my life-labor lie? was the only one 
left. This was determined by a similar manifesta- 
tion to others that I had received to this effect : 
" The Saints reorganizing at Zarahemla and other 
places, is the only organized portion of the Church 
accepted by me. I have given them my Spirit, and 
will continue to do so while they remain humble 
and faithful." 

This was in the Fall of 1859, anc ^ m tne Winter 
I resolved to put myself in communication with the 
brethren of the Reorganized Church. In accord- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. JJ2) 

ance with this resolution I wrote the following 
letter to Elder William Marks, then residing at 
Shabbona Grove, DeKalb county, Illinois, an- 
nouncing my intention to make the effort to take 
up the work left by my father, and asking for a 
correspondence. 

" Nauvoo, March 5th, i860. 

" Mr. William Marks, Sir: — I am soon going to 
take my father's place at the head of the Mormon 
Church, and I wish that you, and some others, those 
you may consider the most trust-worthy, the near- 
est to you, to come and see me ; that is, if you can 
and will. I am somewhat undecided as to the best 
course for me to pursue, and if your views are, upon 
a comparison, in unison with mine, and we can 
agree as to the best course, I would be pleased to 
have your co-operation. I would rather you would 
come previous to your conference in April at 
Amboy. I do not wish to attend the conference, 
but would like to know if they, as a body would 
endorse my opinions., You will say nothing of this 
to any but those who you may wish to accompany 
\ou here. 

"With great regard, I subscribe myself 

" Yours most respectfully, 

"Joseph Smith." 

I was moved to this course, because Elder Marks 
was the President of the Stake at Nauvoo, and also 
of the High Council, at the time of my fathers 
death. He had retained his faith in Mormonism, 
as taught by Joseph and Hyrum, and his counsel 
would now be valuable. I announced my intention 
to my mother and my step-father. The. former 
approved my determination ; the latter took a 
speculative view of it, and straightway built castles 



774 LTFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

in the air, which he felt warranted in doing, from 
his point of observation. 

At an early date after receiving my letter, Elders 
William Marks, Israel L. Rogers and William 
W. Blair, all of them interested in the movement of 
reorganization, visited Nauvoo, and the conclusion 
of their interview with me was that my mother and 
myself should attend the next ensuing conference 
to be held at Amboy, Lee county, Illinois, when 
the matter was to be laid before the brethren, and 
a decision arrived at; for, said Elder Marks, "We 
have had enough of man-made prophets, and we 
don't want any more of that sort. If God has 
called you, we want to know it. If he has, the 
Church is ready to sustain you; if not,' we want 
nothing to do with you." 

My mother and myself made the necessary pre- 
paration and started from Nauvoo to Amboy, on the 
4th of April i860, in the face of one of the fiercest 
tempests that had blown that spring. My mother 
made the characteristic remark, that thus it had been 
all through her life; that whenever she set out to 
do anything for the gospel's sake, the old boy 
seemed to be in the elements trying to prevent. 
We crossed the Mississippi, James Gifford and 
another resolute man in the small boat at the oars. 
The crossing was made in safety, and wet with 
spray, but strong in purpose we pursued our jour- 
ney by boat and rail, arriving at Amboy on the 5th 
in time to attend the evening prayer meeting held 
at the house of Sr. Experience Stone, when for the 
first time I learned that it had been prophesied 
among them that I should come to the Amboy con- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 775 

ference of i860. Whether these sayings had been 
known to Brethren Marks, Rogers, and Blair at the 
time of their visit to me, I do not know; but if so, 
they had not so stated to me; though there was a 
general expectancy that I would be there. A 
strange thrill pervaded the air, and when Elder Z. H. 
Gurley, Sen., in one of his impulsive, impassioned 
exhortations, referred to the fulfillment of the "word 
of the Lord to them," by the fact of my being there 
the whole people sobbed aloud in their joy and 
gratefulness. The story of the next day, April 6th 
i860, has been told and my life since that day has 
been spent for and with the Church, and what that 
life has been remains with the Saints. 

At my return to my home, after the sitting of the 
Amboy Conference, the news of what I had done 
spread rapidly. My action was commented upon 
largely in the newspapers, nearly everywhere, and 
various speculations in regard to motive, object and 
method of procedure were offered, among them the 
following: 

An attorney of Quincy, Illinois, by the name of 
Godfrey, whose specialty appeared to be the secur- 
ing of obscure claims, presented to me the subject 
of reinstating the claims to Missouri lands forfeited 
and abandoned by the Saints in their expulsion 
from that state. He had secured by vigorous 
research a list of names of those whose claims he 
believed could be made good, and offered to perfect 
the titles, being at all the expense and trouble, for 
a specific share of the lands, titles to which should 
be so perfected ; my part of the business was to 
assist him to the names of others who mi^ht be 



776 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

entitled to lands there, secure their co-operation, 
powers of attorney, consent, &c. Besides this, there 
were some lands to which it was supposed mother 
and her children might be entitled, to which we 
were to present our personal claims. The agree- 
ment was consummated between Mr. Godfrey and 
myself and, in keeping with this agreement, Major 
Lewis C. Bidamon, my step-father, started to Inde- 
pendence, Missouri, to look the matter up. Before 
starting, my mother, the Major, and myself held a 
council, in which the idea of removing from Nau- 
voo, to some eligible spot to which a colony of 
Saints might gather and build a town was discussed; 
and w T hen the Major departed he was requested by 
me to look at various points in his line of travel^ 
and report their eligibility at his return. He was 
not told, nor authorized to make any selection, and 
was not to make his business in this regard known. 
He went to Jackson county, but made no discover- 
ies of value touching our claims to Missouri lands; 
but assuming extra powers, he proceeded to Wes- 
ton, Missouri ; Council Bluffs, Iowa, and to Florence, 
Nebraska, at the last named places stating that he 
was looking for a place for the Josephite Mormons 
to settle. Men of wealth and enterprise interested 
in both these places presented the claims of their 
respective localities, and made him offers thought 
by them to be advantageous inducements for the 
Mormons to settle there. What statements he 
made to these men I never knew from them ; but at 
his return, he stated to us that he had given them 
partial promises at Florence. He had exceeded his 
instructions and had apparently put the movement 



LIFE OF TOSEPH THE PROPHET. 



/ / / 



before the speculative world for bids to settle in 
their respective domains. To this, neither mother 
nor mvself could agree, and therefore did not enter- 
tain the propositions. 

In the meantime events were transpiring in Xau- 
voo. and the county of Hancock, of a different 
character. Persons interested in the welfare of 
Xauvoo, and some who believed that the town was 
the gathering place for the Saints, wished us to 
agree to remain. I therefore, entered into an a^ree- 
ment with Mr. George Edmunds, Jr., not to remove 
from Xauvoo for five years, it being" thought that 
that length of time would determine whether the 
place would attract the attention of the Saints 
enough to rebuild it again; or still permit the clouds 
of decay to rest upon it. This agreement I kept, 
the circumstances and the work of the Church not 
requiring my removal till January, 1866. 

In antagonism to this idea of remaining at 

m 

Xauvoo, to rebuild again this one waste place of 
Zion, some of the inhabitants of the county, met at 
Carthage, the county seat, and in Basco and Monte- 
bello townships, and after the necessary inflamma- 
tory speeches about the dreadful consequences to 
accrue to the county if the Mormons were allowed 
to settle in it again, adopted resolutions opposing 
such settlement. The following proceedings were 
had at Carthage; the minutes of which were sent 
to me. 

" Pursuant to call a meeting of the citizens of 

Larthaore and vicinity assembled at the Court 

House, on Thursday evening. August 21st, 1S60. 

Jesse C. Williams was called to the chair, and 



JJ8 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Henry P. Harper and Jacob B. Strader were ap- 
pointed secretaries. David Mack having explained 
the object of the meeting to the persons assembled 
who densely filled the entire court room and were 
of all political parties, Judge Couchman then offered 
the following resolutions, which were, upon motion 
unanimously adopted; to wit, 

"Whereas, A Report is in circulation that the 'Mormons' 
have an idea of returning to Nauvoo in Hancock county, 
Illinois, for the purpose of resettling at that place, which re-settle- 
ment in the unanimous opinion of this community would be a 
great calamity to the future prospects of said County : therefore 

" Resolved, By this mass meeting assembled, without respect 
to political parties, that we earnestly protest against the return 
of the Mormons to Nauvoo ; that they will not be allowed by 
the people of Hancock county to return and make such settle- 
ment. 

" Resolved, That the secretary of this meeting be directed to 
forward without delay a copy of the proceedings of this meeting 
to Joseph Smith, Jr., and also one copy for each of the news- 
papers in Hancock countv with request to publish the same. 
"JESSE C. WILLIAMS, President. 

"Henry P. Harper, ) c , . • „ 
,, T T3 o r Secretaries. 

"Jacob B. Strader, j 

The minutes and resolutions of the meetings at 
Basco and Montebello, were similar to those had at 
Carthage. 

The minutes and resolutions of the meeting at 
Montebello were not signed, but those of Carthage 
and Basco were. 

About the same time a meeting; of the citizens of 
Nauvoo was called, and presided over by the 
mayor, then Robert W. McKinney, Esquire; of 
which meeting John Bernard Risse, a rising young 
lawyer, was secretary. This meeting passed res- 
olutions of a similar nature, with an additional one 
recommending Joseph Smith to go to other parts 
to preach, pray and practice his religion. These 
minutes were presented to me by Mr. Risse, who 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 779 

was an old acquaintance and a then office mate, 
having his lawyer's office in the same room and 
building occupied by me as a justice of the peace. 
Upon looking to see by whom they were signed, I 
discovered that there were no signatures ; I then 
requested him as secretary to put the chairman's 
name and his own to them. This he declined to 
do, and I refused to accept them without signatures. 
The other minutes came by mail, hence I had no 
choice but to receive them. 

Simultaneously with these movements, as I was 
credibly informed at the time, two men prominently 
engaged in the crusade against the Mormons in 
1845-6, prepared a letter notifying me to leave the 
country, or to remain at my peril. This letter they 
presented, so ran the story, to Judge Roosevelt, 
one of the most influential men of the county, 
living at Warsaw, asking him to sign it, that his 
influence mi^ht secure them the signatures of 
others to whom they designed to present it. His 
reply to them was, " Xo, gentlemen, I shall not 
sign it. And my advice to you is to put that letter 
away. If you send it to Mr. Smith you will get 
into trouble." It was stated that they also pre- 
sented the letter to Thomas C. Sharp, who refused 
to sicm, it stating- that he had " lived through one 
Mormon war,"' and did not choose to get into 
another. Mr. Roosevelt sent word to me by a 
trust-worthv messenger, that if a letter of the 
description stated was sent me, to present the men 
whose names were affixed to it, to the Grand Jury 
at its first sitting thereafter, and I would find a 
host of friends that I knew nothing- about. 



780 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

What influence these meetings and the published 
minutes of them, had upon the immigration of 
Mormons to the county, I need not state. The 
letter referred to was never sent me. Friends in 
different parts of the county were prompt and posi- 
tive in their denunciation of such measures; wdiile 
some radical Anti-Mormons took equally strong 
ground against my propagating Mormonism in the 
county, one interior township passing a resolution 
that " no Mormon should be permitted to preach, 
or pray in the county." The minutes of this meet- 
ing did not reach me, possibly for the want of 
moral courage on the part of chairman and secre- 
tary to sign them. The Carthage Repttblican 
opened its columns to articles against the re-settle- 
ment of Nauvoo by the Mormons; one writer, over 
a fictitious name wrote a series of articles against 
me personally; but was betrayed to me to be the 
mayor of the city of Nauvoo, before named. I was 
warned frequently to be on my guard; to avoid 
traversing the county, and to be as quiet as possi- 
ble. A Mr. John J. Middleton, a friend at that 
time, subsequently married to Mrs. Julia Dixon, 
formerly Murdock, my adopted sister, waited upon 
me in great anxiety, stating the inflamed condition 
of the public mind in the county, and almost 
imploring me to get away. To him I made the 
offer, if he dared to risk the venture, to go into the 
county, wherever necessary, and there publicly to 
state my views, believing that the grossest exagger- 
ation prevailed; but as for leaving I would not 
unless compelled, and of that I was in doubt. 

Under this condition of things the Summer, Fall, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. ~Sl 

and Winter of 1S60 wore away. I was not dis- 
turbed. In the year following I continued to preach 
in the city and the country adjoining, Illinois and 
Iowa; went to and fro in the county of Hancock 
as business, or caprice dictated, unarmed and alone, 
as well as in company. I met and conversed with 
numbers, citizens of the county of more or less 
prominence, and was assured that mob violence 
would hardly again be tolerated to any extent. 
Many of the citizens of Xauvoo and near vicinity, 
expressed their opinion that the "driving out of the 
Mormons had left a curse upon the county that 
would not be removed until they should be per- 
mitted to return." 

The Temple, after the burning in 1S4S, had fallen, 
wall after wall, until but a small portion remained. 
The French, Prussian and other German element 
into whose possession the ruins fell, under the 
charofe of one Sellers, a German of some local oren- 
ius and enterprise, riad become a quarry, whence 
stone for buildings, churches, stores and wine cellars 
were diorored ; until there was not one stone left 
above another. The relics put into the corner stone 
were for a time in the orhce of the French com- 
munity, but where they may now be the writer can 
not say ; as the community broke up soon after the 
commencement of the war. Monsieur Cabet, the 
founder, going to St. Louis, with one part, where he 
soon after died ; and the remainder going with 
Monsieur Girard, to Icaria, Iowa. The Meth- 
odists, who had long worshiped in the old Music 
Hall, north and east of the Temple lot, purchased a 
lot on Mulholland street a little more than a quarter 



782 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

of a mile from the Temple east, and built them a 
small chapel, using Temple stones for corners, win- 
dow ledges and caps ; but disaster attached to the 
stones and the society slowly faded away. 

The Temple was not finished. One stairway, on 
the south of the entry way, the basement assembly 
room, and a few rooms in the third story only were 
finished ; and these it is said were not completed in 
the style agreed upon prior to my father's death. 
David LeBarron, long had charge of it, and the 
writer has often been over it from basement to 
cupola with tourists of every shade of religious 
belief. 

The first meeting room occupied by the Saints of 
the Reorganized Church, in Nauvoo, was a small 
one in the rented premises of Benjamin Austin, 
who was amoncr the first to move into the citv from 
abroad. Here for nearly a year and a half we kept 
up our Sunday worship, afterwards in the premises 
once owned by Elder Wm. Marks, corner of Water 
and Granger streets ; then as our congregation grew 
by the moving in of brethren Thaddeus Cutler, 
Henry Cuerden, Thomas Revell, William Redfieid 
and others, together with local baptisms, until we 
had to find larger quarters. We then fitted up the 
large room in the Brick Store, built and occupied 
by my father as a store and office. In 1864 we 
numbered seventy-five, and were exerting an excel- 
lent influence upon the neighborhood. Of my 
brothers, Alexander and David received the work, 
and soon engaged with me. Frederick died April 
13th, 1862, expressing contrition and belief, but 
without baptism. The others began to teach 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 783 

almost simultaneously with myself, and did excel- 
lent work. 

There came no " Thus saith the Lord," upon 
which to make Nauvoo a rallying- place, fne s ^ e 
was not an advantageous one for poor people 
dependent upon daily labor, or agriculture for 
subsistence. The few of the Saints who came in 
there with their means, bought property cheap ; 
but the same property cheapened still and still 
more upon their hands ; their substance wasted and 
out of necessity first one, then another left. The 
Olive Branch, once flourishing, was plucked off. 
The Fall Conference of 1865 required me to re- 
move to Piano, Kendall county, Illinois, to take 
active charge of the Herald, the Church paper, first 
published in Cincinnati, Ohio, in January, i860, by 
Elder Isaac Sheen, who removed to Piano, in 1863, 
with his family, to still continue as editor in the 
office purchased and established there by the Church, 
I therefore made the'necessary preparation, resign- 
ed my office of Justice of the Peace, and also School 
Director, each of which I had held for seven and a 
half years, having been re-elected Justice in 1862 by 
a majority over my competitor of two to one, and 
in January, 1866, I removed with my wife and 
children, three in number, to Piano. I arrived 
January 3rd, and was within a week located in a 
house purchased for my use by the Bishop of the 
Church, Israel L. Rogers. 

I entered upon the duties of Editor and Manager 
of the Herald* Office without previous experience, 
and was glad that the Church had so able and 
devoted a man already in the office as Elder Sheen 



784 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

had proved himself to be in his conduct of the 
Herald for the six years he had been in charge. I 
had before had a sort of editorship conferred by 
the Conference, but did not really assume any 
responsibility until my arrival in Piano. It was 
sought to make me the responsible censor of the 
press; to so impress my responsibility as Editor in 
chief upon me that I should virtually be responsi- 
ble for both matter and manner of what appeared 
in the Herald. This I refused ; and, although 
three several attempts were made, I as frequently 
refused, deeming it neither wise, nor just to estab- 
lish such censorship, and especially deeming myself 
as incompetent as unwilling to accept the post. 

I remained in the active discharge of the duties 
of the office until June, 1872, when the Board of 
Publication having been fully organized, took pos- 
session of the business affairs of the publishing 
department. My co-workers were at first, Elder 
Sheen, as assistant, book-keeper and cashier, with 
Bro. William D„ Morton, superintendent of the 
printing department. In October 1868, Bro. Mor- 
ton was succeeded by Bro. John Scott as superin- 
tendent; and Bro. Sheen as book-keeper by Bro. 
Mark H„ Forscutt, in 1869, who became also assist- 
ant editor near the close of the same year, the 
choice being ratified by the conference of April, 
1870. Soon after Bro. Robert Warnock took 
charge of the book-keeping department. Upon the 
sending of Bro. Forscutt to England, in June 1872, 
I was alone for some time, receiving 'help from Brn. 
W. W. Blair, H. A. Stebbins and others till Bro. 
David H. Smith returned from Utah in 1873, when 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 785 

he came into the office; he was in turn succeeded 
by Bro. Milton B. Oliver, and he by Bro. Henry A. 
Stebbins, who still remains. 

In June, 1872, I gave notice to all the employees 
of the Herald Office that my engagements with 
them would end on the 15th of that month, and on 
the 17th I delivered the keys of the office to Bro. 
E. Banta, President of the Board of Publication, 
which then took possesion ; and though I have 
since been for a part of the time a nlember of the 
Board and all the time on the Editorial staff, I 
have not been responsible for its business affairs. 

In June, 1875, I visited the east, was present in 
Boston on the occasion of the Centennial celebra- 
tion of the Battle of Bunker Hill; went as far east 
as the Island of Grand Manan, New Brunswick, 
preaching three times on July 4th of that year at 
Little Kennebec, a hamlet in Maine, on the shores 
of the ocean away from the cities and their con- 
fusion. In 1876, I visited California, Nevada and 
Utah, leaving home July 17th and returning De- 
cember 19th. During that period I preached in 
the principal cities, north and south, in the Golden 
State; in Carson City and Virginia, Nevada, 
and in Salt Lake City, Utah. My visit to 
Salt Lake City was an opportune one, for Presi- 
dent Brigham Young died the following year, and 
had I not made the call as I did in November and 
December, of 1876, I could not have done so dur- 
ing his life time. At this visit to Salt Lake City, I 
spoke four times in the Liberal Institute, a build- 
ing erected by Messrs. Godbe, Harrison, Tullidge 
and others, in the interests of the Church of Zion, 

5o 



786 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

free thought and advanced morality ; and once in 
the Ward meeting house in Union Fort, south of 
the city, Bishop Rawlins in charge. 

While in Salt Lake City, learning that Apostle 
Orson Pratt, of the Utah church, would speak in 
the i 7th Ward Meeting Rooms on Sunday, Decem- 
ber 10th, in company with Bro. Peter Reinsimar, I 
went to hear him. But few had arrived when we 
went in ; the room was without fire, and the air was 
chilly ; soon they began to come in and the room 
was filled. Elder Joseph F. Smith, my cousin, son 
of Hyrum Smith, came in, saw me, and invited me 
to a seat on the stand; this I declined as I was 
desirous to see as well as hear the speaker. Mr. 
Pratt in his discourse gave a short sketch of his 
early life, religious convictions, and. experiences; 
but dwelt seriously and at length upon his con- 
necting himself with the Latter Day Saints, his 
acquaintance with and knowledge of Joseph Smith, 
my father. Whether the discourse was designed 
for my benefit, to enlighten me on the character of 
my father, or as a covert rebuke to my antagonism 
to the views of the Salt Lake Mormons, I do not 
know ; but it is certain that some things stated by 
the speaker struck me with great force. The note 
of them made at the time is as follows: 

The Church convened in conference, to the num- 
ber of fifty or sixty, January 2nd, 1831, at father 
Whitmer's, Seneca, New York. At this conference 
he heard what was to him a new doctrine, that of 
the inheritance of the Saints. It was also at this 
time stated to the Church that they were to 
remove from there to the Ohio; that when they 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 7S7 

should arrive there, the Lord would give them his 
law to govern his Church. In obedience to this 
command, Joseph went from Xew York to Ohio, 
February, 1 83 1 ; and, before the rest of the Church 
reached there, Joseph received a revelation which 
was a law suitable for them in their then situation 
and in the Xew Jerusalem on this land. This law, 
stated Mr. Pratt, was the revelation of 1831 and is 
to be found in this book; and he took up and pre- 
sented to their view a Doctrine and Covenants, of 
the European edition. As the revelation of 1S31 is 
unfriendly to the plurality of wives, it is as well to 
quote it here, and let the reader draw his own con- 
clusions as to what sort of law was suitable " then" 
and in the " New Jeritsalemr 

In a revelation given February, 1831, occurs the 
following; "Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy 
heart, and cleave unto her and none else; and he 
that looketh upon a r woman to lust after her, shall 
deny the faith, and shall not have the Spirit; and 
if he repents not he shall be cast out 

In March of the same year, the following was 
given ■ •• And a^ain, I sav unto you, that whoso 
forbiddeth to marry is not ordained of God, for 
marriage is ordained of God unto man ; wherefore 
it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they 
twain shall be one flesh; and all this that the earth' 
miofht be filled with the measure of man, according 
to his creation before the world was made." 

These things occurring in commandments eiven 

31, and so soon after the statement that the 

law given was to be operative then and there, and 

in the Xew Jerusalem, gave rise to surprise in me 



788 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

when I heard Elder Pratt make so strong a point 
against himself and his compeers. I thought then 
that I discovered the reason why President Young 
had always kept Elder Orson Pratt under control; 
if left to himself, untrammelled by authority, he 
would be likely to tell the truth. 

One other point that Elder Pratt made was that 
the valleys of Utah were not the true home of the 
Saints; was not the Zion. He said that there was 
not a temple erected that God acknowledged as 
his, the temple to which he would come ; nor would 
there be such a temple till there was one built in 
the land which had been declared to be the centre 
of Zion, and though they might build many temples 
in the mountains, not one would be the temple of 
God. That the faithful, who kept the commands 
of God should finally be permitted to go back to 
Zion; but the unfaithful and disobedient should 
not. That the temple would be built within the 
life time of some who were living in 1832. At the 
close of his sermon, I was presented to Elder Pratt, 
and after the usual compliments, I stated to him 
that I was congratulating myself upon being one 
of those living in 1832, who might be permitted to 
see the things accomplished to which he referred in 
his discourse ; that having been born near the close 
of that year I might indulge the hope. He thought 
it not unlikely, but thought conditions as well as 
age must attach ; to which I assented. 

I did not see President Young, he having taken 
his yearly journey to St. George in southern Utah 
before my arrival ; I was however, visited by 
several, and called upon and met a number. I was 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 789 

cordially received by my cousin John Smith, oldest 
son of my uncle Hyrum, who took me to various 
places of interest, and introduced me to many. 
Among those whom I thus met were Bishops 
Edward Hunter and Robert T. Burton, Joseph 
% Kingsbury, Horace Whitney, Dimic Huntington, 
William Clayton, architect W. H. Folsom, Professor 
Thomas and others. 

I was the guest of Bro. Peter Reinsimar, resident 
in the 9th Ward, and in his company traversed the 
city through its many interesting streets. By him 
I was introduced to many, and was permitted at 
his house to receive those who chose to call upon 
me; and to him and his family I am indebted for 
the pleasure of my stay in the city. 

It now remains to notice a few facts connected 
with myself, my work and my history to complete 
this sketch. 

Of my brothers, Alexander and David are still 
living; the former is in Missouri, and is engaged in 
the work. The health of the latter failed upon his 
return from his mission to Utah and California, in 
1873. He recovered partially, but in 1875 failed 
again, and to such a degree that his intellect was 
impaired; and in January of 1877, he was placed in 
the Hospital at Elgin, Kane county, Illinois, where 
he is at present writing. 

I have elsewhere in this sketch stated that I had 
not a x uestioned my mother respecting the matters 
named upon which so great controversy has 
existed. I determined, however, to seek an inter- 
view with her, and receive her testimony; as she 
was nearine the close of her life. If I had feared 



790 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

that the answers to my questions would destroy 
the conclusions I had formed, and was thus in fault 
and doing an injury to many beside myself, I would 
hear the worst and submit. I consulted with 
several of the leading men nearest to me, and 
agreed upon the questions to be put to her. 

Who performed the marriage ceremony for 
Joseph Smith and Emma Hale? When? Where? 

" I was married at South Bainbridge, New York; 
at the house of Squire Tarbell, by him when I was 
in my 22nd or 23rd year." 

I here suggested that Mother Smith's history 
gave the date of the marriage as January 18th, 
1827. To this she replied, 

" I think the date correct. My certificate of 
marriage was lost many years ago, in some of the 
marches we were compelled to make." 

In answer to a suggestion from me that she 
might mistake about who married father and her- 
self, and that it was rumored that it was Sidney 
Rigdon, or a Presbyterian clergyman, she stated : 

" It was not Sidney Rigdon, for I did not see 
him for years after that. It was not a Presbyterian 
clergyman. I was visiting at Mr. Stowell's, who 
lived in Bainbridge, and saw your father there. I 
had no intention of marrying when I left home; 
but during my visit at Mr. Stowell's, your father 
visited me there. My folks were bitterly opposed 
to him; and, being importuned by your father, 
aided by Mr. Stowell, who urged me to marry him, 
and preferring to marry him than any other man I 
knew, I consented. We went to Squire Tarbell's 
and were married. Afterwards when father found 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 79I 

that I was married he sent for us. The date in 
Mother Smith's history is substantially correct as 
to date and place. Your father bought your uncle 
Jesse's place, off father's farm, and we lived there 
till the Book of Mormon was translated, and I 
think published. I was not in Palmyra long." 

How many children did you lose, mother, before 
I was born ? 

" There were three. I buried one in Pennsyl- 
vania and a pair of»twins in Ohio." 

When did you first know Sidney Rigdon ? 
Where ? 

" I was residing at father Whitmer's when I first 
saw Sidney Rigdon. I think he came there. Par- 
ley P. Pratt had united with the Church before I 
knew Sidney Rigdon, or heard of him. At the 
time the Book of Mormon was translated there 
was no church organized, and Rigdon did not 
become acquainted with Joseph and me till after 
the Church was established in 1830. How long 
after that I do not know, but it was some time." 

Was this before, or after the publication of the 
Book of Mormon? 

" The Book of Mormon had been translated and 
published some time before." 

Who were scribes for father when translating the 
Book of Mormon? 

" Myself, O. Cowdery, M. Harris and my brother, 
Reuben Hale." 

Was Alva Hale one? 

u I think not. He may have written some, but if 
he did I do not remember it." 

What about the revelation on Polygamy? Did 



792 ^ LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

Joseph Smith have anything like it? What of 
spiritual wifery ? 

" There was no revelation on either polygamy, or 
spiritual wives. There were some rumors of some- 
thing of the sort, of which I asked my husband. He 
assured me that all there was of it, was that in a 
chat about plural wives he had said " Well, such a 
system might be, if everybody was agreed to it, and 
would behave as they should; but they would not; 
and besides, it was contrary to frhe will of heaven.' 
No such thing as polygamy, or spiritual wifery, was 
taught publicly or privately before my husband's 
death, that I have now, or ever had any knowledge 
of. 

Did he not have other wives than yourself? 

"He had no other wife but me; nor did he to 
my knowledge ever have." 

Did he not hold marital relation with women 
other than yourself? 

" He did not have improper relations with any 
woman that ever came to my knowledge." 

Was there nothing about spiritual wives that you 
recollect? 

" At one time my husband came to me and asked 
me if I had heard certain rumors about spiritual 
marriages, or anything of the kind; and assured me 
that if I had, that they were without foundation; 
that there was no such doctrine and never should 
be with his knowledge or consent. I know that he 
had no other wife, or wives than myself, in any 
sense, either spiritual or otherwise." 

What of the truth of Mormonism? 

" I know Mormonism to be the truth ; and 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. . 795 

believe the Church to have been established by 
divine direction. In writing for your father I fre- 
quently wrote day after day, often sitting at the 
table close bv him, he sitting with his face buried 
in his hat, with the stone in it, and dictating hour 
after hour with nothing between us." 

Had he not a book, or a manuscript from which 
he read or dictated to you? 

" He had neither manuscript nor book to read 
from." 

Could he not have had and you not know it? 

" If he had had anything" of the kind he could not 
have concealed it from me." 

Are you sure that he had the plates at the time 
you were writing for him? 

" The plates often lay on the table without any 
attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen 
table cloth, which I had given him to fold them in. 
I once felt of the plates as they thus lay on the 
table, tracing their outline and shape. They 
seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would 
rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were 
moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb 
the edges of a book." 

Where did father and O. Cowdery write? 

" O. Cowdery and your father wrote in the room 
where I was at work." 

Could not father have dictated the Book of 
Mormon to you, Oliver Cowdery, and the others 
who wrote for him, after having first written it, or 
having first read it out of some book? 

"Joseph Smith, (and for the first time she used 
his name direct, havino- usuallv used the words 



794 • LIFE 0F JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

'your father,' or 'my husband'), could neither write, 
nor dictate a coherent, and well worded letter, let 
alone dictating a book like the Book of Mormon. 
And though I was an active participant in the 
scenes that transpired ; and was present during the 
translation of the plates, and had cognizance of 
things as they transpired, it is marvelous to me, ' a 

marvel and a wonder,' as much so as to any body 

1 " 
else. 

I should suppose that you would have uncovered 
the plates and examined them ? 

" I did not attempt to handle the plates, other 
than I have told you, nor uncover them to look at 
them. I was satisfied that it was the work of God, 
and therefore did not feel it to be necessary to 
do so." 

Major Bidamon, who was present here suggested : 
" Did Mr. Smith forbid your examining the plates?" 

" I don't think he did. I knew he had them and 
was not specially curious about them. I moved 
them from place to place on the table, as it was 
necessary in doing my work." 

Mother, what is your belief about the authentic- 
ity, or origin of the Book of Mormon? 

" My belief is that the Book of Mormon is of 
divine authenticity. I have not the slightest doubt 
of it. I am satisfied that no man could have dictat- 
ed the writing of the manuscripts unless he were 
inspired. For, when acting as his scribe, your 
father would dictate hour after hour; and when 
returning after meals, or after interruptions, he 
would at once begin where he had left off, without 
either seeing the manuscript, or hearing any por- 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 795 

tion of it read to him. This was a usual thing for 
him to do. It would have been improbable that a 
learned man could do this; and for one so ignorant 
and unlearned as he was it was simply impossible." 

What was the condition of feeling between you 
and father? 

"It was good." 

Were you in the habit of quarreling? 

" No. There was no necessity for any quarrel- 
ing. He knew that I wished for nothing but what 
was right; and as he wished nothing else, we did 
not disagree. He usually gave some heed to what 
I had to say. It was quite a grievous thing to 
many that I had any influence with him." 

What do you think of David Whitmer? 

"David Whitmer- 1 believe to be an honest and 
truthful man. I think what he states may be 
relied on." 

It has been stated sometimes that you apostatised 
at fathers death; and joined the Methodist church. 
What do you say to this ? 

" I have been called apostate ; but I have never 
apostatized, nor forsaken the faith I at first accept- 
ed ; but was called so because I would not accept 
their new fangled notion." 

Who was John Brassfield ? 

"John Brassfield was one of the guards who 
watched your father and others, who slept on his 
post so soundly that the ones guarded escaped — he 
received favors for it after." 

By whom were you baptized. Do you remem- 
ber ? 

" I think, by Oliver Cowdery at Bainbridge." 



796 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

You say that you were married at South Bain- 
bridge, and have used the word Bainbridge. Were 
they one and the same town ? 

" No. There was Bainbridge and South Bain- 
bridge; some distance apart; how far I don't know. 
I was in South Bainbridcre." 

I apologized to my mother for asking the ques- 
tions referring to polygamy, spiritual wives, her 
relations to father, and whether he had other wives, 
stating to her that I had been told that I did not 
dare to ask them ; that if I did her answers would 
condemn me for the course I had taken in regard 
to these things ; that I was now getting to be a 
grey haired man, while she was near her journeys 
end ; and that I was anxious to know from her own 
lips, what her testimony was. In reply to this, she 
stated that she had told me the truth as she com- 
prehended it. 

Major Bidamon, who was present during the 
greater part of the time when these questions were 
being asked and answered, stated that he had 
frequently conversed with her on the subjects 
involved in them, and that she had always answered 
substantially as now. What was written was read 
to her before my departure from her home, and 
confirmed by her. 

I left home for the purpose of this visit of inquiry 
February first, 1879, attended a session of confer- 
ence held at Streator, LaSalle county, for the 
Northern Illinois District, on my way to Nauvoo, at 
which place I arrived on the 4th, and remained 
with my mother until the 10th. She had been ill 
since July 3rd, 1877, but had slowly recovered so as 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 797 

to be up and about the house, and hopes were 
cherished that she would become strong again. 
We had frequent conversations, in which I tried to 
obtain from her whatever recollections of the days 
of my father would bear upon the work I was striv- 
ing to do. From these, as well as from the 
answers to the questions enumerated, I drew the 
conclusion that if there had been evil and wrong 
doing in the Church before my father's death, my 
mother was not a party to it ; nor was it sanctioned 
by her. Among other things stated by her, that I 
noted, was the following : 

" Sheriff Hadley told me at my last visit to 
Liberty Jail, Missouri, that all the authorities were 
waiting for was to get me out of the state. That 
as soon as I was out of the state, the prisoners 
would be let out. That there was no reason for 
detaining them, other than the wishes of the un- 
reasonable, outrageous rabble that had caused their 
imprisonment." 

I felt as I left my mother on the ioth of Feb- 
ruary, 1879, tnat wherein I had failed in moral cour- 
age to ask her at the outset of my career, in i860, 
or before that time, I had now discharged my duty, 
and the result was to relieve me of all apprehension 
respecting what had often been stated to me, "Your 
mother knows, ask her." This I had now done, and 
her testimony is here recorded. 

Sunday, April 20th, while in attendance at the 
evening service in the Saints' Chapel at Piano, Elder 
Joseph Luff occupying the desk, a telegram was 
brought me from my brother Alexander, stopping 
at Nauvoo, on his way to his home in Missouri, that 



798 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

"Mother is passing away; come on first train." As 
soon as I could I hastened to her side, reaching 
there at half-past nine on the evening of the 21st, 
found that mother had rallied a little, but it was 
evident that time was ebbing to its close for her. 
In company with Alexander, Mrs. Julia Middleton, 
our adopted sister, Sr. Elizabeth Revell and Major 
Bidamon, we watched beside her couch till the night 
of Tuesday, April 29th, when at half-past four of 
the morning of Wednesday the 30th, she passed 
quietly away. A few hours before her death she 
showed by frequent expressions that her mind was 
busy with the scenes of the past, and once she ap- 
peared to be holding converse with some one not 
identified bv those standine round her. So marked 
and vivid was the fact apparent that others beside 
her earthly friends were with her, that her husband 
who had always been an unbeliever, and disregarded 
religion in all its forms, 'turned away conviction 
marked upon his face, with the exclamation, "It is 
enough." On May 2d we buried her on the hill- 
side, and left her to sleep with the just. 

It will be seen that in view of her departure at so 
early a time after the statements made by my moth- 
er heretofore recorded, those statements may be 
regarded as her latest testimony upon the subjects 
there named. It may be as well then that I here 
state my convictions regarding the vexing question 
of polygamy. 

I believe that during the later years of my father's 
life there was in discussion among the elders, and 
possibly in practice, a theory like the following: 
that persons who might believe that there was a 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 799 

sufficient degree of spiritual affinity between them 
as married companions, to warrant the desire to per- 
petuate that union in the world to come and after 
the resurrection, could go before some high priest, 
whom they might choose, and there making known 
their desire, might be married for eternity, pledging 
themselves while in the flesh unto each other for 
the observance of the rights of companionship in 
the spirit; that this was called spiritual marriage, 
and upon the supposition that what was sealed by 
this priesthood, before which this pledge was made 
on earth, was sealed in heaven, the marriage relation 
then entered into would continue in eternity. 
That this was not authorized by command of God, 
or rule of the Church ; but grew out of the constant 
discussion had among the elders; and that after a 
time it resulted in the wish (father to the thought) 
that married companionship rendered unpleasant 
here by incompatibilities of different sorts, might be 
cured for the world to come, by securing through 
this means a congenial companion in the spirit ; that 
there was but brief hesitancy between the wish and 
an attempt to put it into form and practice. That 
once started the idea grew, spiritual affinities were 
sought after, and in seeking- them the hitherto 
sacred precincts of home were invaded ; less and 
less restraint was exercised, the lines between vir- 
tue and license hitherto sharply drawn, grew more 
and more indistinct; spiritual companionship if 
sanctioned by a holy priesthood, to confer favors 
and pleasures in the world to come, might be ante- 
dated and put to actual test here — and so the enjoy- 
ment of a spiritual companionship in eternity 



800 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

became a companionship here; a wife a spiritual 
wife, if congenial ; if not, one that was congenial was 
sought, and a wife in fact was supplemented by one 
in spirit, which in easy transition became one in 
essential earthly relationship. From this ; if one, 
why not two, or more, and plural marriage, or the 
plurality of wives was the growth. That so soon 
as the prophet discovered that this must inevitably 
be the result of the marriage for eternity between 
married companions, which for a time was perhaps 
looked upon as a harmless enlargement upon the 
priesthood theory, and rather intended to glorify 
them in doing business for eternity and the hea- 
vens, he set about correcting it. But the evil had, 
unnoted by him, taken root, and it was too late. 
What had been possibly innocently spiritual became 
fleshly, sensual — devilish. He was taken away. 
The lonof train of circumstances burst uoon the 
people. He and Hyrum placed themselves in the 
front of the impending 1 storm and went down to 
death. That which in life they were powerless to 
prevent, rapidly took the successive forms hereto- 
fore stated, and polygamy after eight years of fur- 
ther fostering in secret, rose in terrible malignity 
to essay the destruction of the Church. That my 
father may have been a party to the first step in 
this strange development, I am perhaps prepared 
to admit, though the evidence connecting him with 
it is vague and uncertain ; but that he was in any 
otherwise responsible for plural marriage, plurality 
of wives, or polygamy, I do not know, nor are the 
evidences so far produced to me conclusive to force 
my belief. 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 8oi 

As a fitting close to this chapter, on the evening 
of January i6th, 1880, I spoke in the Court House, 
Carthage, Hancock county, Illinois, and followed 
this effort on the evening of the 1 7th, and on 
Sunday the i8th, delivered two discourses on Mor- 
monism in the same place. This visit was made 
upon an invitation from some of the citizens of the 
city, given through Elder Joseph A. Crawford, then 
presiding elder of that conference district. The 
house was well filled at each service, and the most 
respectful attention was paid to my efforts. The 
services were held in the court room in which my 
father and uncle Hyrum were tried, and from 
which they went to jail and thence to death. 

The reasons for my course in regard to the doc- 
trines and people comprehensively styled the Latter 
Day Saints and Mormonism, herewith appear ; and 
whether for good or ill, remains within the arbitra- 
ment of time and the providences of him, "who 
doeth all things well." 

Joseph Smith. 



5i 



LV. 



GIVEN AT THE BIRTH OF " YOUNG JOSEPH 

A LINEAL PRIESTHOOD JOSEPH AND HIS " SEED " 

THE ONE SENT TO RESTORE LATTER-DAY ISRAEL. 

" And it shall come to pass that I the Lord God, 
will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter 
of power in his hand, clothed with light for a cover- 
ing, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words, 
while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set 
in order the house of God, and to arrange by lot 
the inheritance of the Saints, whose names are 
found, and the names of their fathers, and of their 
children, enrolled in the book of the law of God. 

" While that man, who was called of God and 
appointed, that putteth forth his hand to steady the 
ark of God, shall fall by the hand of death, like as 
a tree that is smitten by the vivid shaft of 
lightning." 

This prophecy concerning the man who should 
be raised up to consummate the work of Zion, is 
now incorporated in the edition of the Doctrine 
and Covenants sent out under the authority of the 
Utah church. It stands thus: section lxxxv. — 
" Revelation given through Joseph, the Seer, in 
Kirtland, Ohio, November 27th, 1832, concerning 
the Saints in Zion, Jackson county, Missouri." 

Thus presented in the Doctrine and Covenants, 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 803 

like a chapter of a Bible, it loses at once its 
historical simplicity and its historical connections. 
It is a fragment cut out of the heart of a letter 

o 

written by the Seer to W. W. Phelps. By examin- 
ation it will be discovered that the connections 
thus destroyed or impaired happen to be those 
which exist between the Prophet and his successor. 
This is of vital importance, for the discovery of 
who is the "one mighty and strong" is just the 
issue of the present and the future. 

We mark, then, that this is not Jesus Christ 
giving a revelation to the Church. (See the many 
examples in the Doctrine and Covenants). It is 
Joseph himself who speaks under the power of 
God that " maketh my bones to quake." He is 
speaking of his successor. This is in the name of 
the Lord, for thus speaks a prophet; but the 
personality of Joseph is marked in the opening of 
the letter, and the chief subject is of his successor 
and his successor's work. It is not of the fathers 
chiefly as actors, but of the children, to be fulfilled 
long after Joseph and Phelps are in their graves. 
Still until we discover the reason it does seem 
strange that the " burden of the Spirit of the Lord " 
finds expression in a letter addressed to an indi- 
vidual. 

Why then, this seeming hastiness of expression? 
Why is the Spirit thus untimely? Why is this 
important prophecy addressed to an individual and 
not to the Church? Why, moreover, name his 
successor at the opening of the dispensation, on 



804 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

this 27th of November, 1832, years before even the 
apostles were chosen ? 

Simply because an occasion had come which 
made all both timely and proper. Find that 
occasion out in its simple historical directness and 
we have found the key to the revelation concerning 
the " one mighty and strong." 

There is no enigma. It is a simple history. 
There is no mystery. It is simply the birth of 
"young Joseph" November 6th, 1832, that gave to 
the Prophet the burden of the Lord concerning the 
future. 

"Young Joseph" is twenty-one days old. The 
Prophet is writing a letter to W. W. Phelps. The 
Spirit of the destiny of his son rests upon him ; for 
he who is born at this opportune moment is the 
one whose mission it will be to redeem Zion. 
Hence the revelation in the heart of that letter — 
the prophecy of his own son. The event is a revel- 
ation in itself, throwing a flood of light upon a 
vital subject which could not well be veiled in 
darkness with the history known. 

Once started on the line of proof of this 
prophecy, and it multiplies at every step. It will 
be discovered that the Prophet has just returned 
with Bishop Whitney from a "rapid journey" to 
Albany, New York and Boston, made thus rapid by 
the expected birth. He arrived home the 6th of 
November, 1832, the very day his son Joseph was 
born. The following from a letter to Sister 
Emma, during his absence is also suggestive as 
perfecting the chain of evidence which connects the 
famous prophecy with young Joseph's birth: 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 805 

" October 13, 1832, 
"Pearl Street House, N. Y. City. 
"My ..Dear Wife: 

" * * * After beholding all that I desired to 
behold, (of New York), I returned to my room to 
meditate and calm my mind ; and behold the 
thoughts of home, of Emma, and Julia, rush upon 
my mind like a flood, and I could wish for a moment 
to be with them. My breast is filled with all the 
feelings of a parent and a husband, and could I be 
with you I would tell you many things. * "* I feel 
as if I wanted to say something to you to comfort 
you in your peculiar trial, and present affliction. I 
hope God will give you strength that you may not 
faint. I pray God to soften the hearts of those 
around you to be kind to you and take the burden 
off your shoulders as much as possible and not 
afflict you. I feel for you, for I know your state, 
and that others do not ; but you must comfort 
yourself, knowing that God is your friend in heaven, 
and that you have one true and living friend on 
earth — Your ^Husband, 

Joseph Smith, Jr." 

Unpublished letters of Joseph to Emma. 

The Prophet calls himself a parent, not because 
of "Julia" the adopted, but for his unborn child, 
Joseph. Notice also, the "parent" is named before 
the husband, for it signifies the burden of the 
coming event ; and in the passage about the 
thoughts of this event rushing over his mind " like 
a flood," we have the prelude to this of the revel- 
ation : " Yea, thus saith the still small voice, which 
whispereth through and pierceth all things, and 
often times it maketh my bones to quake while it 
maketh manifest saying, ' And it shall come to pass 



806 LJFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and 
strong," &c. 

The historical clue to this prophecy is found. 
The Prophet hurries home from his mission east, 
for he has seen the looming star of " one mighty 
and strong." He arrives home, as before observed, 
on the day of "Young Joseph's" birth. The boy 
is just twenty-one days old at the date of the letter 
to Phelps ; the mother is up with the babe in her 
arms ; most likely the Prophet is writing this letter 
in her presence, the very sight of the " child of 
promise" kindling the parent's love and re-inspiring 
the prophecy. 

Such were the quick suggestions as I read the 
Prophet's letter to his wife ; and I felt impressed 
that proof of connection with "young Joseph's" 
birth would be also found with the letter to Phelps. 

Turn now to page 673, volume v., Times and 
Seasons, and see that in his father's diary "young 
Joseph's"" birth-record is not cut off from the 
prophecy of his mission by so much as the division 
of a paragraph, nor even by a period mark, but 
simply by a colon. It is the first touch of history 
after the return and birth, being a summary sen- 
tence prefacing the letter. Here is the example : 

Joseph's Diary: "I continued the translation, 
and ministering to the Church through the Fall, 
excepting a rapid journey to Albany, New York, 
and Boston, in corripany with Bishop Whitney, 
from which I returned on the 6th of November, 
immediately after the birth of my son, Joseph 
Smith 3rd. In answer to letters from the brethren 
in Missouri, I wrote as follows :" 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 807 

" KlRTLAND, NOV. 27th, 1832. 

" Bro. William W. Phelps: — I say brother because 
I feel so from the heart, and although it is not long 
since I wrote a letter unto you, yet I feel as though 
you would excuse me for writing this, as I have 
many things which I wish to communicate. Some 
things which I will mention in this letter, which are 
laying with great weight on my mind; I am well 
and my family also ; God grant that you may enjoy 
the same, and yours, and all the brethren and sisters 
who remember to inquire after the commandments 
of the Lord, and the welfare of Zion and such a 
being as me ; and while I dictate this letter I fancy 
to myself that you are saying or thinking something 
similar to these words: ' My God, great and mighty 
art thou, therefore show unto thy servant what 
shall become of all those who are essaying to come 
up unto Zion, in order to keep the commandments 
of God, and yet receive not their inheritance by 
consecrations, by order or deed from the bishop, 
the man that God has appointed in a legal way, 
agreeably to the law given to organize and regulate 
the church, and all the affairs of the same.' 

Brother William, in the love of God, having the 
most implicit confidence in you as a man of God, 
having obtained this conscience by a vision of 
heaven, therefore I will proceed to unfold to you 
some of the feelings of my heart, and to answer the 
question. Firstly, it is the duty of the Lord's clerk 
whom he has appointed to keep a history and a 
general church record of all things that transpire in 
Zion, and of all those who consecrate properties 
and receive inheritances legally from the bishop, 
and also their manner of life, their faith and works ; 
and also of all the apostates who apostatize after 
receiving their inheritances. 

Secondly, it is contrary to the will and command- 
ment of God, that those who receive not their 



808 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

inheritance by consecration, agreeably to his law, 
which he has given, that he may tithe his people, to 
prepare them against the day of vengeance and 
burning, should have their names enrolled with the 
people of God ; neither is their genealogy to be 
kept, or to be had where it may be found on any of 
the records or history of the church ; their names 
shall not be found, neither the names of the fathers, 
the names of the children written in the book of 
the law of God, saith the Lord of Hosts, yea, thus 
saith the still small voice, which whispereth through 
and pierceth all things, and often times it maketh 
my bones to quake while it maketh manifest, say- 
ing: And it shall come to pass that I the Lord God 
will send one mighty and strong, holding the 
scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for 
a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal 
words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, 
to set in order the house of God, and to arrange by 
lot the inheritances of the saints, whose names are 
found, and the names of their fathers, and of their 
children, enrolled in the book of the law of God; 
while that man, who was called of God and appoint- 
ed that putteth forth his hand to steady the ark of 
God, shall fall by the shaft of death, like as a tree 
that is smitten by the .vivid shaft of lightning; and 
all they who are not found written in the book ol 
remembrance, shall find none inheritance in that 
day, but they shall be cut asunder and their portion 
shall be appointed them among unbelievers, where 
is wailing and gnashing of teeth. These things I 
say not of myself, therefore, as the Lord speaketh, 
he will also fulfill. 

" And they who are of the high priesthood, whose 
names are not found written in the book of the law, 
or that are found to have apostatized, or to have 
been cut off out of the church ; as well as the lesser 
priesthood, or the members, in that day shall not 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. S09 

find an inheritance among 1 the saints of the most 
High; therefore it shall be done unto them as unto 
the children of the priest, as you will find recorded 
in the second chapter and sixty-first and second 
verses of Ezra. 

" Now, brother William, if what I have said is true, 
how careful had men ought to be what thev do in 
these last days, lest they are cut short of their 
expectations, and they that think they stand should 
fall, because they keep not the Lord's command- 
ments; while you, who do the will of the Lord and 
keep his commandments, have need to rejoice with 
unspeakable joy, for such shall be exalted very high, 
and shall be lifted up in triumph above all the 
kingdoms of this world; but I must droo this sub- 
ject at the beginning. 

" O Lord, when will the time come; when brother 
William, thy servant, and myself, shall behold the 
day that we may stand together and gaze upon 
eternal wisdom engraved upon the heavens, while 
the majesty of our God holdeth up the dark curtain, 
until we may read 'the round of eternity, to the 
fullness and satisfaction of our immortal souls ? 
Oh Lord God ; deliver us in thine own due time 
from the little narrow prison, almost as it were, 
total darkness of paper, pen and ink ; — and a crook- 
ed, broken, scattered and imperfect language. 

" I have obtained ten subscribers for the Star, 
&c. ; love for all the brethren. 

" Yours in bonds ; Amen. 

H JOSEPH SMITH, Jux." 

We may boldly affirm, and challenge judgment 
of a council of experts in history, that this famous 
prophecy embodied in this letter in question was 
not as now headed in the Doctrine and Covenants 
bv Orson Pratt and others as Section LXXXV. — 



"8lO LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" Revelation given through Joseph the Seer, in 
Kirtland, Ohio, November 27th, 1832, concerning 
the Saints in Zion, Jackson county, Missouri;" that 
the prophecy itself was incidental in the letter ; 
that it was originally given to Joseph himself rather 
than through Joseph to the Church through 
Phelps ; that the prophecy of the " one mighty and 
strong" did not directly concern those then in 
Jackson county, but rather a people who to this 
day have not set their foot in Jackson county — the 
children rather than the fathers ; and that the 
mission foreshadowed related to his son Joseph, 
who, like his father, should be sent in the spirit of 
the " one mighty and strong" to restore the "house 
of God " to " order," after it shall have been ruled 
out of order and the fathers plucked up out of the 
land of Zion because of their iniquities. Numerous 
other prophecies and revelations may be compared 
to corroborate this, and the facts of history to this 
day confirm the view. Moreover it would seem 
that the prophecy of the " one mighty and strong" 
was not originally given on the 27th of November, 
1832, but was probably given nearer the birth of 
young Joseph and about the 6th of November, the 
day of his birth. Since that time the Spirit had 
pursued the Prophet with the burden of his son's 
mission, for mark — history itself proves it was not 
his own mission, which also proves that it was not 
a revelation "concerning" the Saints then in Jack- 
son county, and strongly suggests that the prophecy 
was incidental in that letter to Phelps by the very 
law of association which connefcted with his son. 
Under an ordinary occasion (especially in a letter 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 8ll 

to an individual and not a formal revelation to the 
Church) he would have dealt with the work of his 
own lifetime rather than with the work of his 
successor Perhaps when the Prophet sat down to 
write that letter to Phelps he may have had no 
intention to record an immortal prophecy, the value 
of which would be greatly enhanced fifty years 
from that time, for he commenced his letter in a 
most common place manner, and not as the Revel- 
ator writing an epistle to the Church ; notice it : 

" KlRTLAND, NOV. 27th, 1852. 

" Bro. William W. Phelps : — I say brother because 
I feel so from the heart, and although it is not long 
since I wrote a letter unto you, yet I feel as though 
you would excuse me for writing this, as I have 
many things which I wish to communicate. [Sub- 
stantially the very language which he used to 
Emma, "Could I be with you I would tell you 
many things"]. Scwne things which I will mention 
in this letter, which are laying with great weight on 
my mind; I am well and my family also; God grant 
that you may enjoy the same, and yours," &c. 

But as he launched out into the gathering to 
Zion and the subject matter leading to arrange- 
ments and events which would not come to pass in 
his own lifetime, but in the lifetime and work of his 
son, the Spirit again came over him : hence the 
seemingly untimely and out of place record by 
which the prophecy has been singularly preserved.* 

Notice now where the Spirit of the Lord begins 
after the transition is made from Joseph's own 
presidential directions to Phelps as one of the lead- 
ing Elders of the time : , 



8l2 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

" Yea, thus saith the still small voice, which 
whispereth through, and pierceth all things, and 
often times it maketh my bones to quake while it 
maketh manifest, saying," &c. 

Now I would not distort the simplicity of truth 
by inferring that the expression " maketh my bones 
to quake " is not general in its signification of the 
power of God upon him ; but the words " while it 
maketh manifest, saying: 'And it shall come to 
pass that I the Lord God will send one mighty 
and strong,' " give a special directness to the 
prophecy concerning the son of Joseph at his 
birth. And now see the force of this when applied 
to the Prophet and his son, for the burden of that 
revelation is the very mission and destiny of both 
the father and the son, and it makes no connection 
with the Twelve, (who were not yet called), nor to 
the Church only through them as Prophet-founder, 
and successor. Moreover, if that passage called 
paragraph eight of section eighty-five', Doctrine and 
Covenants, refers to the martyrdom of the Prophet, 
then we have the birth of the son, and the death of 
the father, and the mission of the Founder, and the 
future work of the Successor to its consummation 
brought together in this marvelous prophecy, or 
word of the Lord to Joseph. Was not that 
enough to " often times " make " my bones to 
quake, while it maketh manifest" my destiny and 
the destiny of my son, — my martyrdom and his 
triumph through the mighty God of Jacob in 
restoring Zion? Doubt will be expressed by many, 
however, that Joseph is the one meant who was to 
"fall by the shaft of death, like as a tree that is 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 813 

smitten by the vivid shaft of lightning;" but inde- 
pendent of this, his martyrdom, or at least his 
death, is implied in the very succession of his son. 
As I pursue the historical methods of interpretation 
it seems that " that man, who was called of God 
and appointed, that putteth forth his hand to 
steady the ark" is one of future doom who shall 
interrupt the " one mighty and strong," or who 
shall presume to put forth his arrogant hand to 
steady the ark of the covenant in the day of God's 
power. If this be the proper interpretation, then 
is it almost certain that this is some presiding man 
of the Twelve who shall oppose the " Seed " of 
Joseph after that quorum shall have ruled the 
"house of God" out of "order" and rejected the 
son to possess his inheritance; and it seems that 
this man shall be smitten by the hand of God : so, 
should this be the proper view, the prophecy is 
still more awful in the grandeur of its future 
prospect. The writing of a presidential letter to 
Phelps fifty years before the fulfillment of the 
prophecy is altogether inadequate to explain the 
record, whereas the birth of the son — a principal 
personage of the prophecy — is fully adequate to 
give significance to the whole. 

Let us consider, next, the attributes of this 
prophecy, for in these are expressed at once the 
identity and the character of the man. We will 
pass for awhile the supreme attribute of the proph- 
ecy — "one mighty and strong" — to the attribute of 
endowment which brings the man into his mission, 
"holding the scepter of power in his hand." The 
mission of his father, endows him with this. He 



814 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. * 

inherits the scepter. The Apostles may perceive 
that this can not possibly be their case nor that of 
any man to-day excepting Joseph the son of Joseph. 
They may even possess the supreme attribute of 
the prophecy and be "mighty and strong" as men, 
or apostles, but they are not and can not be endowed 
with the "scepter" of this dispensation. It is the 
endowment of the prophecy, and that, too, just the 
very endowment which excludes all other persons 
so long as young Joseph lives, unless he should for- 
feit his birthright in the sight of God. 

Joseph Smith being the founder of the dispen- 
sation, the scepter is unto "him and his seed." It 
can not inhere in any of the Apostles. It did not 
pass from Joseph to Brigham Young. Brigham 
well knew that, and fell back upon the endowing 
attribute of the prophecy, — namely, that expressed 
in the words "one mighty and strong." He would 
have had it understood that this prophetic character- 
phrase was but the synonym of Brigham Young. 
Others claimed for him the successorship, or the 
"scepter," but notwithstanding he profited thereby, 
he grew in some sort so like the supreme attribute 
of the prophecy that he preferred to be considered 
absolutely and in himself the "one mighty and 
strong" without much reference to Joseph the foun- 
der : hence, at last, he sought to establish a dynasty 
of his own, and to leave a "scepter" which he inher- 
ited not. 

He ruled the people, ruled the priesthood, and 
ruled the Twelve, by the might of his own will, and 
not by the scepter of the Lord, or even the word of 
the Lord: when that will — called Brigham Young 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 815 

— died, there was nothing left. All Israel realized 
this, in a moment after the vital spark expired, and 
then they realized also that Brigham Young was 
never the President of the Church of Jesus Christ 
of Latter Day Saints, but simply the President of 
the Twelve; and this the Elders of the Utah 
Church confessed in a most extraordinary manner. 
Am I asked to prove when they confessed it, and to 
give their words? I saw the hands often thousand 
Elders uplifted in the "Great Tabernacle," Salt 
Lake City, making the Twelve the successor of 
Brieham Young. Is not that confession? Is not 
that proof? They restored him to his quorum after 
his death, and then succeeded him by vote. There- 
fore do this Twelve themselves give the proof in 
the logic of their present action and in the present 
existence of their church without the First Presi- 
dency proper, as well as in the facts of their history, 
that Joseph Smith, the founder, never had his suc- 
cessor among them. 

"The King is dead! Long live the King!" 
It is the everlasting law of succession. There is 
no suspension. When the line of succession ceases 
for a moment, it ceases for ever. The chain oi 
authority is cut off. It is held then by the one in 
whom the authority last inhered. He is dead; his 
line has ceased. Thus would it be with Joseph 
and his line. His dispensation would have died. 
It could only be restored by his coming from the 
dead and endowing" some chosen one with the 
authority and line which he held on earth. Is not 
this the very foundation argument of the Church? 
Now we all, with one accord, admit that the dis- 



8l6 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

pensation which Joseph the Prophet opened is 
continued. The case could be no other; for it is 
the millennial dispensation. Then has the Prophet 
a successor. To him belongs the "sceptre" till the 
Lord comes; or should he die before Messiah 
comes, then to his successor belongs the sceptre of 
power. And if the Prophet has a successor in 
1880, he had one on the close of the day of 
martyrdom, June 27th, 1844. 

We turn from this Twelve; we will leave them 
to their own conceits ; we will become as little 
children ; a child shall lead us back from the 
bewilderments of the paths which the Twelve has 
led us into. We will remember that at about the 
moment the " Lord's anointed " was born, the 
word of the Lord came unto his father, saying, 
"And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, 
will send one mighty and strong, holding the 
sceptre of power in his hand." And the ink of 
"young Joseph's birth-record was not fairly dry 
before the Prophet recorded the revelation itself in 
this letter to Phelps. If any of the Elders who are 
in judgment upon this matter think these are mere 
trifles, let them take the Doctrine and Covenants 
and instead of the present incorrect heading, thus 
head Section LXXXV. — " Revelation written by 
Joseph the Seer, November 27th, 1832, immediately 
after recording the birth of his son, Joseph Smith 
III." 

Is there a single person in the Church who could 
possibly misapply the revelation? And, supposing 
the introduction to the section was even more 
direct, stating that it was oriven on the birth of his 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 8l 7 

son Joseph, and concerning this son whom the 
Lord would send as "one mighty and strong" to 
" set the house of God in order," after the Twelve 
shall have ruled it out o\ order nearly forty years, 
without a Prophet — without the true successor — 
would not such an explanation be in itself a revel- 
ation to the .church in the mountains? Yet this is 
but the plain truth! 

And now let the reader notice the mark of " heir- 
ship " to the presiding priesthood and prophetic 
office of his father in the record of " the birth of my 
son Joseph Smith III. There is very profound 
method here, and a long history of priesthood and 
heirship in the Prophet's birth record. We of 
to-day should speak of "young Joseph," or Joseph 
II; but his father calls him Joseph III, and that, 
too, in reference to hb family order in the priest- 
hood. Joseph is the presiding priesthood name. 
This is more than a* modern form of distinction. 
It is a linking right back to Joseph of Egypt, runs 
through the Book of Mormon, is taken up in this 
dispensation in Father Joseph Smith, who gives in 
himself the patriarchal branch of priesthood to the 
Church, while the links of the Melchisedec Priest- 
hood are continued in the son of the " Choice Seer," 
Joseph III, counting upon the Book of Mormon 
order : 

"And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold, 
that Seer will the Lord bless ; and they that seek 
to destroy him, shall be confounded, for this prom- 
ise, of which I have obtained of the Lord, of the 
fruit of thy loins, shall be fulfilled. Behold I am 
sure of the fulfilling of this promise. And his 

52 



8l8 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

name shall be called after me ; and it shall be after 
the name of his father. And he shall be like unto 
me; for the thing which the Lord shall bring forth 
by his hand by the power of the Lord shall bring 
my people unto salvation. Yea, thus prophesied 
Joseph, I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure 
of the promise of Moses ; for the Lord has said 
unto me, I will preserve thy seed for ever." — 
Second Book of Nephi 2 13. 

Now it must not be inferred that I affirm as an 
historical fact that all this ran through the Prophet's 
mind in making the birth-record of his son, as 
Joseph III, (the third has no reference to ''Smith," 
but to "Joseph"), but it is there latent in the record 
itself both as touching its history and its priest- 
hood. And this latent meaning is brought out of 
the record to-day to enlighten the present compre- 
hension by the same law of association that brought 
it into the record forty-seven years ago. Here, now, 
we touch something more than the literal — namely, 
the genus of the truth, and that, even more than the 
record, points out the man as Joseph III of this 
dispensation, for the literal of the record is of the 
moment when the father penned it, but this is of all 
time since the genus of the truth began. For illus- 
tration an "analogue" is thus denned: "A species or 
genus in one country closely related to a species of 
the same genus, or a genus of the same group in 
another." Well, then, Joseph of Egypt is the 
"analogue." In him is the genus of this sacred his- 
tory. It will agree with itself in ancient times in 
Egypt; in the Book of Mormon times in America — 
Joseph's land of promise; and in the latter days 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 819 

with the dispensation in Joseph. See how this 
analogue worked out in the family of Lehi, and in 
the very genesis of the Book of Mormon : 

"And now Joseph my last born, whom I have 
brought out of the wilderness of mine afflictions, 
may the Lord bless thee forever, for thy seed shall 
not utterly be destroyed. For behold, thou art the 
fruit of my loins; and I am a descendant of Joseph, 
who was carrfied captive into Egypt. And great 
were the covenants of the Lord which he made unto 
Joseph; wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day." 

Perceive you not that the very sacred story of 
this land being given to Joseph by covenant, and 
his prophecy of the "choice seer" is disclosed by old 
Lehi in his instruction and blessing of his "little" 
Joseph? Not even is it disclosed in the royal 
Nephi, though the blessing of the continent inheres 
in him; but it began in Joseph of Egypt, and so 
even Lehi dates his claim to America, not in his 
colonization, but unto Joseph of old, the parent of 
the genus. And so in the last days the covenant 
of the continent comes up again in Joseph the 
"choice seer :" "And he shall be great like unto 
Moses, whom I have said I would raise up unto 
you" "to deliver thy people out of the land of 
Egypt." Like Moses, Joseph of the last days shall 
be the founder of a dispensation, but see now how 
quickly Joseph brings the "choice seer" of his own 
loins back from his type Moses to his prototype: 
"And his name shall be called after me; and it shall 
be after the name of his father. And he shall be 
like unto me!" 

The analogue has become terrible to any one 



820 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

who dares to touch the prophecy of November, 
1832, to claim it, except the one to whom it 
belongs; for it must not only prove him in the 
lines of the covenant and history back to Joseph of 
Egypt, but his own personal character and history 
must correspond. On him must be stamped the 
original face — from the beginning to the end he is 
like unto Joseph / 

Test now the character and work of this " one 
mighty and strong" by the text of the prophecy: 
"While his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to 
set in order the house of God, and arrange by lot 
the inheritances of the Saints." 

Here notice that we have the very character- 
figure used to describe but two persons in all 
sacred history — namely Joseph of Egypt and Jesus 
of Nazareth. " His bowels of compassion' 7 and all 
such expressions belong to the character-descrip- 
tions of the Redeemer of Israel. It would be 
blasphemous to apply such to any other person to 
the robbery of Christ's character-typings, and yet 
wonderful is the fact that the sacred pen has typed 
Joseph and his history by the Christ-figure and 
narrative. See the following touches of the story 
of Joseph: 

"And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did 
yearn upon his brother. And he sought where to 
weep ; and he entered into his chamber and wept 
there. * * * 

"Then Joseph could not refrain himself before 
all of them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause 
every man to go out from me. And there stood 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 82 1 

no man with him, while Joseph made himself 
known unto his brethren. 

"And he wept aloud; and the Egyptians and the 
house of Pharaoh heard. 

" And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; 
doth my father yet live? And his brethren could 
not answer him for they were troubled at his 
presence. 

"And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near 
to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he 
said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into 
Egypt. 

" Now therefore be not grieved, n or angry with 
yourselves, that ye sold me hither; for God did 
send me before you to preserve life. * * * 

" And God sent me before you to preserve you a 
posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a 
great deliverance." 

Thus we see that this very analogue of the 
original Joseph defines at once the character and 
work of the " one mighty and strong," and that too 
in his relation to the Mormon Israel of the 
Mountains. Notwithstanding they have rejected 
this Joseph of ours and treated him ill, his "bowels" 
will yet " yearn " over them ; and the Lord has 
raised him up to preserve them a posterity in the 
earth, and to save their lives by a great deliverance. 
And this he will do with the consent and good will 
of Pharaoh and his servants In other words, the 
Government and people of the United States will 
permit him to do this and rejoice over his work; 
and the God of Israel in his providence will have 



822 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

so ordered it and separated him from his brethren 
for this very purpose. Hence, this Joseph will be 
sent unto them as "one mighty and strong" to 
preserve them in the earth and to save their lives 
with a great deliverance. And all this shall be 
done before he leads them back to Zion in Jackson 
county, where he will " arrange by lot the inher- 
itances of the Saints." So we see that the very 
type and historic pattern of this Joseph of ours, 
in the fulfillment of the prophecy of his birth, 
leads us by a well defined path to another great 
revelation of the man: 

" Behold, I say unto you, the redemption of Zion 
must needs come by power; 

" Therefore, I will raise up unto my people a 
man, who shall lead them like as Moses led the 
children of Israel. 

" For ye are the children of Israel, and the seed 
of Abraham, and ye must needs be led out of bond- 
age by power, and with a stretched out arm: 

"And as your fathers were led at the first, even 
so shall the redemption of Zion be. 

" Therefore let not your hearts faint, for I say 
not unto you as I said unto your fathers, mine 
angel shall go before you, but not my presence ; 

" But I say unto you, mine angels shall go before 
you and also my presence." 

And now are we prepared by the text of the 
mission of the future to consider the descriptive 
title of the person — " one mighty and strong." 

This is the title of Christ himself. He is pre- 
eminently :b<3 "One Mighty and Strong." Isaiah 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 823 

describing this redemption of Zion thus gives the 
text of the personage: " And thou shalt know that 
I the Lord am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the 
MighrY One of Jacob." 

It would be blasphemous therefore to apply this 
title of " One Mighty and Strong" to any one 
apart from Christ. Yet how plain has the text 
become coupled with the Lord's promise to modern 
Israel: 

" I will raise up unto my people a man, who shall 
lead them like as Moses led the children of Israel." 

And this promise is crowned by the endowing 
presence of the Redeemer of Israel himself, who is 
supremely the "One Mighty and Strong;" " I say 
unto you, mine angels shall go before you and ~lso 
my presence." 

We perceive then there are two personages who 
are chief in this redemption of Zion, — namely, the 
man who shall be raised up to lead Mormon Israel 
out of bondage as Moses led ancient Israel, and 
Christ himself who shall redeem them " out of 
bondage with power, and with a stretched out 
arm." The one will be the visible leader, the other 
the Invisible Leader of Israel — "thy Redeemer, the 
Mighty God of Jacob." Endowed by His Spirit 
the man will be " one mighty and strong/' but in 
himself compared with this almighty work before 
him he will be as nothing. As "little Joseph" 
whom his brethren sold into Egypt will this man 
be. — Joseph who was separated from his brethren, 
the founders of the house of Israel, that through 
him God in his providence might preserve the sons 



824 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

of Jacob a "posterity in the earth," and "to save" 
their "lives by a great deliverance." 

This interesting view of the future takes us back 
to Mormon Israel in the beginning of the dispen- 
sation. The Lord raised up out of "Joseph's 
seed" the "choice seer." He was like unto Moses 
as a founder of a dispensation, but like unto Joseph 
in name and nature. At first when the Lord called 
him he was "little Joseph," and afterwards when 
his mission developed him into a man of marvelous 
force as a leader, it was a true Joseph's wondrous 
love-nature that verily created an Israelitish 
brotherhood. It was this nature which his proto- 
type foretold he would possess, that enabled him to 
rise above men of mio-htv character and indom- 
initable will ; and all who know him must confess 
that it is this love-nature which prevails in his son 
"young Joseph," and therein is he as "one mighty 
and strong," a fitting instrument in Messiah's hand 
to redeem Israel. 

In himself, Joseph the first Prophet, was esteem- 
ed as naught, as one despised and rejected ; but 
mark the language of the One who speaks to this 
age in his revelations and ministry : 

" Thus saith the Lord God, the Mighty One of 
Israel." " Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Savior of 
the world." " For verily I say unto you that I am 
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, 
the lieht and life of the world — a liorht which 
shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehend- 
eth it not." 

And this is the One who, when He shall raise up 
the man to lead Israel out of bondage, shall not 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 825 

only send his angels before them, but his own 
presence shall be with them. See, therefore, how 
the revelation explains itself: 

• " And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, 
will send "one mighty and strong," holding the 
scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for 
a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal 
words." 

Jehovah shall speak through him as he did 
through his father before ! Is not this what all 
Israel believe shall verily be fulfilled in the mission 
of some man to be raised up, or who may be 
already raised up to consummate the work begun 
in the first Prophet of this dispensation ? 

Since Joseph's martyrdom the Israel who was 
driven to the mountains have not been led by the 
anoels of the Lord ministering as at first, much 
less has the presence of Jehovah been with them to 
speak to them. Neither will the presence of the 
Redeemer of Israel go before the man who shall be 
sent to redeem them from bondage until the time 
shall come for his crowning work; until then the 
following is the text of his mission: 

" When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the 
Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against 
him." 

Thus has it been. For twenty years that stand- 
ard has been in the hand of "young Joseph " invit- 
ing backsliding Israel to return unto the Lord. 

And He who in the very beginning of the dis- 
pensation, foreknowing the'partial fall of his Israel, 
purposed to send this man in the Spirit of the "one 
mighty and strong," has also in the very providence 



826 LJFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 

of his ministerial life been making him potent 
enough for that crowning work. "Young Joseph" 
is first sent to " the remnant." Among- that 
"remnant" the Spirit of the Lord has been lifting up 
a standard. Men of God in whom was the spirit 
of prophecy, effected a preparatory organization 
in "young Joseph's" name; they received for them- 
selves well pronounced promises of the Spirit that 
the Lord would in his own due time send him to 
take his father's place; and the Saints in all the 
churches established upon that promise, from time 
to time during a period of nearly ten years, were 
kept alive in the faith by the Holy Ghost often 
witnessing concerning its fulfillment. Thus is all 
this the work of the Spirit unto the churches them- 
selves without any management or prompting from 
"young Joseph." Indeed, "the remnant" is pre- 
pared by the Holy Ghost for his ministry years 
before he himself is prepared, and he gives no 
promise of his coming until he is also sent by the 
command of the Holy Ghost to gather the scattered 
of Israel and " to set in order the house of God." 

So it may be noticed here in the wonderful con- 
sistency of the Lord's ways that this Reorganized 
Church is actually founded upon this grand revel- 
ation concerning the "one mighty and strong;" and 
this setting "of the house of God in order" begins 
upon the birth-prophecy of "young Joseph" twenty- 
seven years after its utterance. It is the prophecy 
of his destiny; and, without even the Elders of the 
Reorganization intending as much, this birth- 
prophecy works out in the fulfillment with a 
scientific-like exactitude. These Elders built wiser 



LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET. 827 

than they knew. Led by the Spirit of the Lord, 
they have been proving "young Joseph's" mission 
in every footstep of their work. Just as the Elders 
of both branches of Latter-day Israel find proof of 
the restoration of the everlasting gospel by the 
angel in its proclamation in every nation, so have 
we the proof of the prophecy of the " one mighty 
and strong" in its fulfillment thus clearly marked 
in "young Joseph's" life. He is the man by God's 
own rule of proof — the fulfillment of the prophecy ! 
And he comes now to Israel of the mountains to 
redeem them t from "bondage" with Jehovah's 
stamp upon his front — Joseph not alone, but as the 
"one mighty and strong" in the might of the God 
of Israel, with a church at his back and a host of 
Elders bearing the standard of Zion's redemption. 
And now, O Israel, you have in the near future by 
the testimony of all these signs the grand prospect 
of the later revelation, concerning you: 

" Therefore, I will raise up unto my people a 
man, who shall lead them like as Moses led the 
children of Israel; For, * * * ye must needs be led 
out of bondage by power, and with a stretched out 
arm? 



THE END. 



